Resurrection and Reconciliation
by SarikOstheim
Summary: The Second Bloody Valentine War has been raging for months. Traveling through the world's wastes, the mysterious Sarik Ostheim searches for a friend long lost. But what will happen when he finds her, and at what expense to himself?
1. Prologue

Year fifty-one of the Cosmic Era. Tensions between the Earth governments and the PLANTs are at a minimum. However, the powers that eventually caused these tensions are hard at work.

The Zodiac Alliance, soon to be known as the military organization ZAFT, is quickly growing as most of the genetically enhanced Coordinators are forced to relocate to the PLANTs.

The radical anti-Coordinator organization, Blue Cosmos, continues to grow rapidly, gaining more supporters daily as jealousy and hatred continues to overcome the Earth's Natural population.

By now, the secretive, war profiting masters of Blue Cosmos, the organization Logos, have initiated a project to create a breed of human with abilities similar to Coordinators without the use of genetic manipulation, later known as the Biological CPU Program. The project has been in progress for a few years, but is remains small, due to need of secrecy and lack of consistent funding.

This changes when a productive young businessman, partial owner of his family's corporation, joined Blue Cosmos, and is later invited into the Logos organization. His name is William Ostheim.

William was an ambitious investor who earned thirty percent of the family's corporation through his successes. Due to his family ties, he was permitted to invest his portion of the corporation into whatever industries he he deemed necessary, within the limits of the corporation's trades and international law. Silver Shield Incorporated, the Ostheim's privately owned company, had significant investments in the medical, automotive, military, and space industries.

William was quite secretive about his doings within the corporation, devoting most of his division's manpower to the development of superior medicine for Natural's. However, this is a clever cover-up operation for his true works, the corporation's researchers unaware of the complete ramifications of their work.

Because of William Ostheim, Logos now had the resources to bring about the full potential of their military medical program. Logos, through Blue Cosmos, had been "acquiring" children of ages between five and ten years of age. Many were orphans who were the results of rebel actions, murders, or other traumatic events, easy targets for conditioning.

These children, would be "Extendeds", were put through rigorous testing, intense brainwashing, and heavy drug exposure.

The majority of the early Extendeds were killed by early, untested versions of the body altering drugs developed by William's researchers. Those who didn't die were plagued with physical deformities or mental illness for the rest of their short lives.

In year fifty-four of the Cosmic Era, Laura Ostheim, mother of William Ostheim, grew pregnant with her second child at the age of forty-nine, thirty years after bearing her first.

Though it was quickly losing popularity due to intense anti-Coordinator politics, it was not unheard of for a well-to-do couple to have their child made into a Coordinator early on in its embryonic development. Laura and her husband, Derick, having discovered her pregnancy in the earliest stages of gestation, decided to have the procedure done, wanting the best for their child.

Shortly before the date of the procedure, William learned of the pregnancy and the Ostheim's intentions. Having no wish to have a Coordinator for a sibling, his agents were sent to sabotage the procedure with an experimental anti-Coordinator drug that he had been researching for Blue Cosmos.

Nine months and one week later, the black-haired, blue-eyed Sarik Ostheim was born.

Immediately after his birth, the doctors put him through a series of tests to ensure everything had gone smoothly. It hadn't.

Genetic testing showed that something had gone terribly wrong with the procedure. Certain genes had taken hold in the child, others had not. The result was partial alteration.

The genes that had been successfully grafted gave Sarik the physical constitution and skeletal structure of a Coordinator, imbuing him a strong resistance to both disease and physical harm. However, due to certain genes being unable to take hold, his physical strength and agility would never be impressive when compared to other Coordinators, simply above average if compared to a Natural's.

His brain, however, showed development of mental facilities far excessive than that of a Natural's. Mentally, Sarik would be as fast, sharp, and memorizing as any Coordinator.

The rest of Sarik's bodily systems showed no sign of modification. Because the majority of his bodily systems were more comparable to a Natural's, his parents had him classified as a Natural. In order to protect him, they had all traces that could show signs of any genetic modification destroyed, replacing it with data showing him to have inherited all of his parents' naturally given genes.

William, upon receiving the falsified reports of his new-born brother, submitted his own reports to Logos and Blue Cosmos, showing that the first test of his drug had been completely successful.

Blue Cosmos began using the drug to sabotage more gene-enhancing procedures. After two short months, however, the various clinics were made aware of a potential anti-Coordinator agent through investigations performed by Silver Shield. Taking various precautions, most of the procedures were successful, while the majority of sabotaged operations were salvaged.

Blue Cosmos completely ceased its attempts to prevent Coordinators from coming into existence within six months from the start of its operation after several of its agents were captured. Shortly after Blue Cosmos's attacks ended, the operations to create a first-generation Coordinator were declared illegal by the Earth governments.

Throughout his early childhood, Sarik proved to be a prodigy, showing reasoning skills that most would not develop for years. As far as his brother was concerned, that's all he was, as he arrogantly believed that it ran in the family.

However, right after Sarik was born, his physicians were required to take a blood test because of his exposure to the extremely fatal Type S2 Influenza, which was plaguing the Naturals of Earth at the time. The doctors couldn't explain his body's reaction to the illness, which was almost none. Days later, he was declared to no longer be a carrier and was released to return home.

William heard of this, and personally investigated out of skepticism. He knew that after every blood test, there was a short amount of time before the blood was actually disposed of. A bribe here, a few strings pulled there, and William soon had a complete library of Sarik's genetic code.

After having the Blue Cosmos doctors examine the genes despite Sarik's Natural classification, William learned that Sarik was a Coordinator, or more specifically, a partial Coordinator. This meant that the anti-Coordinator drug, which he, Blue cosmos, and Logos had invested much money and time in, was a failure and waste, even for the short period that it was used.

Years later, William discovered a potential break. His medical scientists, who researched the performance enhancing and body altering drugs necessary to create Extendeds, had just engineered a new series of drugs intended to make them even more powerful and useful with less side-effects and a lower death rate. The catch was that the Biological CPU Program had come to a point that wasting any of the fresh subjects could prove costly. As they were still only Naturals, the drugs could easily kill them if they were exposed to wrong dosages, an untested compound, or the wrong combination of compounds. A Coordinator, however, could easily survive the process with only a short-term incapacitation during the purging of the compounds from his system.

William, as greedy and heartless as he had become, attempted arrangements to gain temporary custody of Sarik during the next years of his childhood. However, he was unable to do so until Sarik was eight years old.

Sarik's parents were traveling to oversee the construction of the company's first space-based structure, a military facility on an asteroid for the Eurasian Federation. The project would take the entire summer that Sarik was on vacation from boarding school. Derick and Laura, having no wish for him to stay at the school during the summer, arranged for William to care for his much younger brother over the summer, an eternity of nearly four months.

**...**

Sarik strolled off of the plane with his personal caretaker, hired by his parents years earlier to watch over him when no one else was available.

After stopping at the entrance of the terminal and glancing around the huge, bustling airport with an enthusiasm unlike any other, Sarik followed his not-quite middle-aged caretaker to the baggage unloading area.

Once they arrived, they gathered several bags onto a cart in similar fashion to the hundreds of individuals bustling around them. Upon the completion of this task, Sarik insisted on pushing the contraption, trying to prove he was getting to be "grown up", though he did not verbally express this. After checking out, the two waited near a small restaurant where William had informed them that they would meet.

"Where's my brother?" Sarik asked his caretaker impatiently after a few minutes.

"I don't know," the older man replied. "I'm sure he'll be here in a few moments."

They waited for fifteen minutes, Sarik growing even more impatient with each one.

As the caretaker was about to ask Sarik if he wanted to grab a bite to eat, William strolled out of the restaurant with several older businessmen, a few younger aids following a couple meters behind. He chatted with them for a moment before excusing himself.

"Sarik, how wonderful to see you," William said as he neared him. "You've really grown in the past year, haven't you?"

"Ten centimeters," Sarik replied.

"You're going to be taller than me before you're twelve," William exaggerated.

"Sir," the caretaker said, trying to get William's attention.

"Yes, yes, of course," William replied in a slightly edgy tone.

Sarik's brother signaled, and two of the men William had been with strolled over, taking up Sarik's belongings.

"If you don't mind me asking, what were you doing?" the caretaker asked in a truly curious tone.

"I was in a meeting with some...investors," William replied. "What is it to you?"

"Just curious," the caretaker replied in an innocent fashion.

"No harm done," William assured, followed up with a smile that the caretaker hardly found sincere.

"Well, if you have things from here, I will take my leave," the caretaker informed him.

"Very well," William said.

The caretaker turned to walk off when William stopped him.

"Yes?" the caretaker asked.

"I don't think you introduced yourself," William said.

"Really? I'm sorry."

The caretaker turned around.

"Lee Hastings," the caretaker told William as he extended his hand.

William looked him over for a moment.

"Well met," William replied, ignoring the man's extended hand with an arrogant air about him.

"Same here," Lee remarked before moving off, quickly disappearing into the crowd.

**...**

Lee moved quickly through the horde of conformity that seemed to smother him, quite angry that his old rival had just told him a bold-faced lie.

He didn't recognize any of those "investors" to be SSI's major contributors. And since the corporation was privately owned, it was doubtful that he wouldn't know of any, since the company catered to few outside influences.

Lee did, however, recognize one as the CEO of one of the Atlantic Federation's major military suppliers, which concerned him a bit more than just slightly.

He was going to have to keep a close eye on this entire affair. In only a moment's time, Lee had discerned far too many secrets than he was comfortable with, which only hinted at deception.


	2. Chapter 1

**CE 74**

Sarik woke up to an unidentifiable noise outside of his tent, something loud. He grabbed his pistol and poked his head outside the flaps that made up the dwelling's door.

_Nothing...again,_ he remarked to himself.

Then he heard the sound again. A low rumbling noise far in the distance that grew progressively louder. Then another, and another, and soon, the sound became a consistent thudding in the background.

_Great,_ he thought sarcastically as he returned inside of his tent.

For nearly a week now, nineteen-year-old Sarik Ostheim had been tracking a herd of deer on his massive lot of property, which was located a few hours drive outside of Berlin, Germany, which was a province was within the borders of the Eurasian Federation. Recently, however, much of the area had been occupied by ZAFT forces, whom were at war with the Earth Alliance, of which the Eurasian Federation was a member. As a result, the two forces were constantly battling over territory in this area.

This did not affect Sarik in the least, who took no sides in this war. He believed it was started for purely racist and destructive reasons, just like last time. Sure, some would say it was provoked by the supposed attack by ZAFT when Junius Seven was dropped onto the Earth, but Sarik knew better. It was true that the space colony had been knocked out of its orbit by Coordinators, but if it weren't for ZAFT, the colony would have hit the Earth in a single piece, affecting it as if a comet or an asteroid had impacted. The destruction that followed the fall of Junius Seven was nothing compared the the complete decimation that would have resulted without ZAFT's intervention.

No, this war was started because of one people's hatred for another, and not just the Natural's towards the Coordinators. Sarik felt that somehow the war was as much the Coordinators' faults as it was the Natural's. It was going to become another excuse for genocide, just like the last war. That's how he saw it.

Sarik had gone to great lengths to proclaim his neutrality in the world's conflicts. When his parents died and he inherited ownership Silver Shield Incorporated, he had moved most of the corporation to a small island within Orb Union territory, after things had settled down at the end the last war. He was not thrilled by the fact that the idealistic nation of Orb broke under fear and pressure, allying itself with the Earth Alliance, something that wouldn't have happened if Chief Representative Cugalli Yula Autha hadn't been kidnapped, leaving the Orb government open to the control of the abusive Seirans.

In the years since Sarik had gained control of SSI, its annual growth had increased immensely. Sarik put the company in a position to take a larger role in the world than before, more than just minor research and limited contracts. During peace times, SSI was selling new weapons and systems to the three major governments: the Earth Alliance, the PLANTs, and most largely, the Orb Union. During wartimes, however, SSI's sales to any involved powers came to a complete halt, in this instance causing the corporation to rely heavily on its few private and even fewer remaining government contracts. Using immense saved-up fortunes that never quite rivaled corporations like Aeron and Morgenroete, SSI's R&D departments worked around the clock to modify existing components and create new ones.

Some of SSI's most recent public accomplishments was when it purchased the blueprints and production licenses for several mobile suit model, the first ever for the company. These included the nearly retired ZAFT GINN, the retiring Earth Alliance Dagger series, and the lesser produced Orb Astrays. In addition to limited production of these mobile suits, SSI had taken these designs and was beginning the process of engineering on its own, original line of mobile suits, though THAT most wouldn't be finished for several years, due to the extremely expensive nature of the project.

Another accomplishment was a parts contract with ZAFT several months before this latest war started. SSI had obtained the contract to design and assemble a new armored command bridge for ZAFT's next generation of battleships, which was somewhat of a feat, due to the fact that ZAFT was unwilling to share any blueprint information because of the then-secretive nature of the project. Sarik learned later on that it had been implemented into the battleship _Minerva_, a warship that had played a large role in the war up to this point, almost as much as the _Archangel_ had in the last war.

Some things, such as SSI's private military and their research projects, were not public knowledge, some of it so well protected that even the major governments were unaware of the corporation's full capabilities.

Among these was SSI's research on the implementation of several relatively unexplored concepts that could very well make modern day weapons obsolete. Plasma weapons scaled down to small, energy-efficient rifles for mobile suits; high-power railguns capable of destroying _Nelson_-class battleships and _Nazca_-class destroyers in a single shot; cheap, unguided rockets superior to modern day smart missiles; shielding systems efficient enough to be used on warships for extended periods of time. And to implement these new systems, entire series of warships, mobile suits, fighters, and formerly obsolete tanks were being redesigned by SSI for their use.

SSI also had compiled a large, defensive military, created in secret under Sarik's personal direction. He felt that in order to enforce their political neutrality during periods of wart, a strong defense force was needed. Armed with the latest technology, including much of SSI's new and sometimes unshared weaponry, they were a force to be reckoned with. No one had yet become bold enough to test their mettle, though that could change any given day.

After finding himself dozing off in his thoughts, Sarik snapped out of his daze and went about preparing for the day. He quickly threw his coat on, the temperature outside being negative twenty degrees celsius. He grabbed some cold, dry cereal and turned on his small portable television, which was coming in perfectly due to the fact it tapped into local satellites' signals to gain unlimited access to most channels.

He nearly spat out his food when he saw the flattened mess that was reported to be one of Eurasia's major cities.

"...And this unidentified weapon has been utterly destroying anything occupied by ZAFT," said the reporter narrating. "Several cities have already been demolished by this unknown weapon, and there are unconfirmed reports that Earth Alliance mobile weapons have been spotted escorting it. Why they would deploy such a destructive weapon is still unknown, but casualties, both civilian and military, are estimated in the millions."

_How sad,_ Sarik thought coldly.

The young man turned off the small device and quickly finished his food so he could get an early start. The distant sounds of battle encouraged him to get moving all the more quickly.

After dropping the coat, he first he slipped on his web belt, then pulled his large coat back on over his body, which was dressed by day light clothes under an insulated dry suit, allowing him to cross rivers and streams easily. Onto his web belt went his canteen, which he had filled the night before, his side-arm, for the rare occasion he would need to defend himself, a twenty-four hour pack, for emergencies, and his knife and sheath.

As he picked up his knife, he simply held it there, taking a moment to stare. At fourteen centimeters long with an inward curved, diamond edged blade, it was most definitely weapon fit for a soldier. He had acquired his last day there.

_Eleven years,_ Sarik thought. _I wonder what you're like now._

It had been eleven years since that summer, the summer that changed his life. He had made close, trusting friends, then lost them abruptly, having them taken from him. That summer, he had lost his innocence, his past, his sanity, and sometimes, he thought, his humanity.

However, during the summer in that horrible place, he had begun to have these dreams on rare occasions. Dreams that always, in some way, came true. They were so rare, however, that he had only had two during his time with Blue Cosmos and four in the eleven years since. The only way he could tell it was a vision, and not one of the nightmares that consistently plagued him, was the screaming. The loud, unbearable screaming that grew progressively louder until he was on the brink of insanity. Then he would wake up.

But to this day, they had never been wrong.

Two weeks earlier, he had another vision. In it, he saw a young girl dropped into a lake. A man with tears had delicately set her on the water and released her, allowing her unmoving body to sink. Then, he simply walked away from the lake's edge, leaving the child to slowly drift to the bottom of the freezing lake.

But in this dream, Sarik knew she still had life in her. Somehow, he knew. He dove into the lake after her. He searched and searched, but it was too dark. He swam deeper. His lungs were burning and his head felt as if it was going to explode. Then, he felt her. He grabbed whatever he could and swam to the surface. He swam to the edge of the lake and pushed her ashore before pulling himself onto land.

He was exhausted, darkness creeping in at the edges of his vision. He just wanted to sleep. But he couldn't.

He jumped up and felt her. She was cold as ice, unmoving.

He pulled something long from nowhere. He didn't know what, but as with all of his dreams, he had little control. He stabbed her four times with this unknown object.

Then, what was he doing? Kissing her? No, he was trying to breath life back into her.

Suddenly, her eyes opened, and he felt a pain in his stomach. This girl, no longer innocent looking, had just stabbed him with his own knife.

Then the screaming started, and he awoke.

That was why he as here. Not as a hunter of beast, but a hunter of his lost past. The lake in his dream was identical to the one located on one of his many properties. It was there where he had the few memories of his father that he did. During his search, he was always careful to keep within a few kilometers of it.

Sarik attached the knife to its correct place on his belt, then grabbed his rifle. Making sure the safety was on, he pulled back the bolt and loaded five rounds into the gun, then placed a round in the chamber and slid the mechanism forward, locking it in place.

Before Sarik packed everything, he made sure to get his shots. "Liquid maintenance" as his doctor had always called it. Because of his alterations, Sarik had to have his body "recalibrated" every so often. Due to the fact SSI didn't have the equipment to do this everywhere in the world, his parents had a compound developed that did this for him, after many frustrating years, of course. Because of them, he was no longer restricted on where in the world he could go. He simply had to have a supply of this cocktail. It was one of the few things he was thankful to them for.

_How much longer?_ he asked himself as he finished packing. He absolutely hated this cold. It reminded him too much of what he'd been through.


	3. Chapter 2

**CE 63**

Sarik walked into the facility beside the woman whom William had appointed over him. He did so silently, more interested in identifying the things that he passed than where he was going. They eventually arrived at a large room filled with dozens of children his age and younger and several adults that looked like doctors.

Upon entering, he noticed the children were being herded into a line leading out of a doorway where they stripped their clothes and walked through.

"Please get into the line and do what you're told," the lady told Sarik.

"What am I going to do?" Sarik asked innocently.

The woman smiled warmly.

"You're just going to get a check-up," she replied.

"Okay," Sarik remarked before he got into the line.

As Sarik joined the shortening line, the woman moved to the back of the room, watching Sarik intently as he moved along.

When he arrived at the doorway, the bored medical assistant stopped him.

"Please take all of your clothes off," he ordered Sarik in a monotone voice.

"Why?" asked Sarik. "I thought I'm just getting a check-up."

"It's a special check-up," he replied coldly. "Now take your clothes off."

Sarik quickly stripped his clothing, not knowing what to think.

When he stepped through the doorway, he entered into a short, wide corridor with benches lining the walls. He noticed the boy in front of him find a place on a relatively empty bench, so Sarik sat down next to him.

Sarik observed his surroundings, somewhat puzzled. Every so often, a child would be taken by a medical assistant and lead him into an open room with no wall towards the corridor where they were made to sit on a stool and remain still as the doctors examined them and put their observations into a computer.

Sarik waited for what felt like hours before a nurse came to get him. By then, there were only a few other children sitting around, and no one new had joined them for a while.

Sarik was escorted a room further up the corridor. This one was different, as it had four full walls and a number of machines making noises that unsettled him. At the back of the room, the wall was dominated by a large, opaque window with a door located next to it.

Sarik was instructed to sit on a stool in the center of the machinery. When he did, two men dressed in white coats strolled through the door and walked up to examine him.

"A good subject," the older one remarked.

"Maybe in appearance, but we have to test him to make sure," remarked the younger looking one.

The older man moved closer to Sarik, pulling out an electronic stethoscope as he did.

"I'm going to check your heart and breathing," he told Sarik. "Please sit still."

After the older doctor checked Sarik's pulse and breathing, the younger doctor wrapped something around his arm. After a few seconds, it tightened, causing Sarik pain. He tensed up like he always did when something hurt.

A beeping sound came from the younger doctor's handheld computer, which he was using to read Sarik's blood pressure.

"Don't force it!" he yelled, obviously less tolerant than his older colleague.

"Sorry," Sarik said with a slight whine in his voice.

After the doctors finished their manual testing, they walked over to the corner of the room and talked for a few moments. When they walked back over to Sarik, they both seemed happy.

"Alright, we're going to draw some blood now," the older doctor softly informed Sarik.

There was a ringing sound from the older doctor's pocket, from which he pulled out a small headpiece.

"Yes?" he asked as he attached it to his ear as he walked towards the corner of the room.

He paused for a moment.

"Thank you," the older man courtesied before removing the device.

"Apparently, we already have a sample of his blood," he informed his colleague. "They just sent us the relevant info."

"Saves us the time," remarked the young doctor.

He looked over at Sarik.

"Sit completely still if you know what's good for you," he told Sarik threateningly.

Sarik sat as still as his little eight year old body could.

_*** * *  
**_

After half an hour of various tests and scans by the room's machinery, Sarik was given a set of uncomfortable green colored hospital clothes to dress in and sent away to another part of the facility.

After Sarik had left, William met with the two doctors in the observation room to discuss Sarik's situation.

"He's a Coordinator!" the younger doctor yelled fanatically after a moment of discussion. "We should have him killed!"

"Calm yourself, Doctor Smith," suggested the older doctor. "However, Mister Ostheim, I hate Coordinators as much as the next man around here. Care to explain this?"

"I would prefer not to," William answered.

"We need to know what's going on if we're to work around this," the older doctor informed William.

"Let's just say that he's the result of a failed attempt to cure the Coordinator problem," William told him.

"What 'attempt'?" the older doctor asked.

Reluctantly and as unrevealing as possible, William explained to the doctor about the anti-Coordinator drug he had worked with during Sarik's Coordinator modification and the apparently failed attempts that resulted from later uses.

"Director Hellice, we have to tell our superiors!" Smith exclaimed. "They have the right to know."

"Unfortunately, you are right," he agreed. "William, this is not the way we should be going about things. We will speak well on your behalf in this manner, but the organization must know of these circumstances. We need the Head Director's personal authorization before doing anything of the sort that you are proposing."

"I'm sorry, but I don't have the time to take any chances in this matter," William replied threateningly. "Please reconsider."

Director Hellice thought it over for a short moment.

"I'm sorry William, but I am obligated to report this to my superiors," he replied.

"Then I will be replacing you," William said darkly.

Both Hellice's and Smith's eyes widened as William quickly pulled an automatic pistol from inside his suit and put a three round burst into each of their chests.

Smith fell to the ground, dying instantly. Hellice fell holding on to life, if barely.

William slowly and dramatically walked over to the dying doctor, then bent down so that he could whisper into his ear.

"I have a lot of respect for your work," William told him spitefully. "We could have gone a long way together."

William then stood up and put a bullet between Hellice's eyes.

**_* * *  
_**

Sarik left the way he came and found that same woman waiting for him.

"Ready to eat?" she asked him enthusiastically.

"Sure," Sarik replied unconvincingly, concentrating more on his growing fear of the unknown than on his hunger.

The woman lead him through a maze of hallways that lead to various parts of the facility. As they traveled, Sarik could hear the sounds of children talking and yelling. It grew louder and louder until eventually, they came to a large, open door that lead to the facility's cafeteria. Inside, there were hundreds children bustling about, getting in line with their large trays to receive dinner. Standing around among them were several men armed with assault rifles, some of them more concerned with the tempting smell of food than watching over their charges.

Sarik, under the instruction of the woman leading him around, stepped into line with the other children. After twenty minutes of waiting, he received a small meal that was inadequate for anyone of any age.

Sarik looked for a place to sit, but all of the tables he could immediately see were full. As he moved down the rows, he spied a table in the back of the room occupied by a single girl with long, golden blond hair who appeared to be more interested in poking at her food than eating it.

Sarik sat down in the seat across from hers. She lifted her head up to look at him for a few seconds, then went back to staring and poking at her food.

Sarik figured she was shy, so he went about to eating his food. After a few bites, he found he also was too anxious to eat.

_What am I doing here? _Sarik wondered fearfully._ What is going on? Am I in trouble?_

After several minutes of thought, Sarik grew bored, and as a result, regained his boldness.

"My name's Sarik," he said to the girl, introducing himself. "What's yours?"

Again, she looked up at him, albeit a little longer this time, then back at her food. He managed to get a good look at her eyes, which were a dark purple in color.

"Can you talk?" Sarik asked in a slightly sarcastic tone.

The girl mumbled something that Sarik couldn't understand over the crowd.

"What did you say?" he asked.

"My name is Stella," she repeated softly, peeking up shyly.


	4. Chapter 3

**CE 74**

Sarik pulled the sled along, all of his equipment carefully strapped down onto it. He wasn't too worried about scaring off the animals that he hunted, as the snow from the previous night was deep but well packed, allowing him to move just about any amount of weight without making much noise.

Before long, he found a number of deer tracks accompanied by droppings, meaning that the herd he was tracking moved after the snowfall. While they definitely had the head start, locating them would not prove to be as difficult as before.

Sarik continued on, pondering whether or not to turn back. He reasoned that if the news was reporting accurate findings, then the weapons used were of an extremely powerful magnitude, and stray fire could find him even this far out. On the other hand, the nearest shelter was at his home, which was at least a sixteen hour walk from here in this weather.

Sarik decided to trudge on, wanting to find his prey and not wanting to miss the opportunities that his visions usually provided him. He had spotted the deer several times during his previous week of hunting, and even managed to snap off a few shots, but he mostly missed in the strong winds, while those shots that did hit did not injure the deer enough to kill them.

Today, the winds were just as strong, whipping by Sarik's masked face, testament to the previous night's storm. He was partially glad for this, as they helped dull the distant sounds of battle.

For an hour, Sarik continued to track the deer. He eventually came to an opening in the woods where the deer appeared to have rested at some point recently. He could easily understand why. It was located at the edge of the wood, leading to an open, mile long stretch along the lake's shore. In fact, most of the area around the lake was pretty clear, with a tree here and there.

Until now, Sarik hadn't had much of a chance to estimate the herd's size. From the tracks and the various droppings left behind, he estimated that there were at least two fawns, several younger deer, and a few larger ones, probably older males. But, as always, he could be wrong. He wasn't exactly an expert.

After taking a large swig from his canteen, Sarik continued on, not in the least fatigued by the load that he pulled.

Two more hours went by, and still no deer. But the tracks were fresher. He had to be close.

On he pushed, and as he came over a small hill, he finally found them. Under a small group of trees, Sarik spotted a few deer. He knew that most of them were probably hiding in the thicket, but the tracks lead directly to them, implying that they were the prey he sought.

He pulled his binoculars from a pouch in his coat to estimate the range.

_Rangefinder shows fifteen hundred meters, _Sarik thought. _Need to get closer._

Sarik pulled out a snow camouflage tarp and threw it over his sled, then set up a small encrypted GPS beacon so that he would be able to find it when he returned with his trophy.

Slowly and carefully, Sarik moved through the snow, keeping as low as possible and using cover whenever he could. After thirty minutes of this painful exercise, he checked up on the deer and noticed several walking out towards the lake, most likely to drink. This would be the perfect time to set up. He quickly pulled his gun from his back, an old-fashioned bolt-action rifle. It was ancient compared to modern weapons, but an elegant challenge nonetheless. With this weapon, Sarik could not rely on the automatic or semi-automatic capabilities that many marksman had become accustomed to. This weapon required skill, finesse, and most importantly, patience. Patience was something that he often found many lacking, including himself.

Checking the range with his binoculars again, Sarik found himself to be at a much more realistic distance.

_Two hundred meters. Difficult in this wind, but possible._

Sarik set the barrel of his rifle onto a nearby rock to steady his aim, then examined his selection of targets. There were the fawns, but they were unsportsmanlike, and illegal to shoot at. There were a few good looking younger males, with well developed bodies and large antlers, but still young enough to have tender meat.

Sarik was looking over three older males in the group and nearly passed them up when he noticed one had a limp. Closer examination showed it had a gunshot wound in its abdomen, the damage done by a round of similar caliber to Sarik's gun. This was the old, stubborn beast who had escaped him before. Sarik decided upon this one as his prey.

He flicked off his safety and sighted in. Sarik had fragmenting rounds loaded, so he would have to wait for a clear shot to his target. Moments later, he got his chance. From his current position, he could make a perfect shot to the creature's heart, killing it quickly.

Sarik settled his finger onto the trigger. A gust of wind blew.

_Wait for it._

The wind ended. Sarik steadied himself once more.

_Wait for it._

Sarik was about to pull the trigger when he heard the loud blast of a sonic boom. The deer herd noticed it, too, looking up before turning to run.

"Dammit!"

Sarik snapped off a shot, but he missed his target by centimeters.

Sarik quickly cycled the bolt and lined himself up, then let the next round loose. But the deer had bolted over dozens of meters in that time, and the combined factors of the wind and Sarik's broken concentration caused the shot to miss by a much larger margin than the first round.

Frustrated beyond belief, Sarik flicked his safety back on and yanked out his binoculars. Scanning the skies, he was inistially unable to find the source of the sound. He could only tell it came from the direction of Berlin. He searched for a moment longwe, finally spotting something. It started out as a small speck in the distance, but it quickly grew closer, revealing a humanoid outline.

Zooming in, Sarik identified what it was. A mobile suit.

He scrambled through all his gear, making sure to turn off anything that could give him away. Sarik then dove into the snow behind his perch, ensuring that his rifle was well hidden. Sarik watched from his cold hiding place as the mobile suit flew closer, eventually coming to a relatively graceful landing on the shores of the lake. He pulled out his binoculars cautiously, hoping its energy signature wouldn't give him away. From what he could tell, this pilot was being careless, and wasn't searching for anything in particular.

From his observations, the mech's design was similar to that of the GAT-X105 Strike, a now destroyed Earth Alliance mobile suit that was the prototype for the Dagger series. A specific mobile suit type known to some as a Gundam, an acronym based off of its then-revolutionary operating system. However, as he looked over the mobile suit, he did note several differences, including what looked to be ZAFT-designed weaponry.

Sarik was about to pocket his binoculars when the Gundam stepped forward into the lake, its hands extended with their palms up directly beneath the cockpit. When the water was almost up to its hands, the mobile suit stopped. He continued to watch as the cockpit's panels separated, revealing a younger looking man holding another person. He zoomed in on the two, quickly realizing that the black haired man couldn't have been any older than sixteen. He was dressed in a red ZAFT flight suit. And the person he was holding, a girl with short, blond hair of similar age, was dressed in an Earth Alliance flight suit.

Sarik knew what this was. He switched the binoculars to infrared mode, confirming his suspicions. The girl was giving off less heat than what was normal for a living human being. However, she couldn't have been dead for more than a few minutes, because her abdominal area was still giving off a significant amount.

Sarik put his binoculars down and looked away from the scene, giving this young man respect and privacy for his memorial to this girl. Sarik grabbed up his gun and was preparing to slink away when pain overtook him, forcing him onto his knees. He began to despair, as this had never happened to him before. What was wrong with him? Was the damage to his body finally catching up with him?

Everything turned black for a moment, then a familiar landscape formed before Sarik's eyes. It was his dream from a month earlier, but far clearer.

_A boy with black hair and teary eyes was walking towards the edge of a frozen lake, a blond-haired woman, unmoving, lifeless, cradled in his arms. He set her upon the surface of the lake, holding her as his last tears fell on her motionless body. He watched as he released her, allowing her body to sink into the water's shadowy depths._

Sarik blacked out, waking up to find himself sprawled face first on the snowy ground.

He immediately understood. Sarik looked off towards the Gundam, his senses enhanced by adrenaline. The young man was at the edge of the mech's hands, holding the girl just above the water.

Sarik knew this was wrong. She wasn't dead. Somehow, this wasn't her time. He man took a quick estimate of the distance between him and the lake as he threw off his coat and web belt.

_About three hundred meters. I can make that._

After yanking the medical kit off his belt, Sarik bolted forward, nothing on his back but his dry suit and light clothing. He ran as fast as his enhanced body could, but he still could not run as quickly as he needed to. Sarik squinted, trying to discern what was going on aboard the Gundam, but running blurred his vision, making it extremely difficult to make anything out.

Sarik was no more than ten meters away from the lake when the ZAFT mobile suit blasted off, sending out a shockwave that sent Sarik sprawling onto his back and causing him to loose his grip on his medical kit. He almost instantly jumped back to his feet, sprinted his hardest the last few meters, and dove into the lake.

As soon as he hit the water, Sarik's exposed skin started to burn, and his senses began to numb. Regardless, he dove deeper, swimming as hard as he could, desperate to save this girl. Desperate to save Stella.

He hit the bottom, where the pressure threatened to send him into unconsciousness. By will alone, he swam deeper, searching for her, hoping to find her before she sank too deep. It was dark down there, as the heavy cloud coverage allowed almost no light to make it down this deep, forcing Sarik to rely on touch alone. He was about to pass out from following the lake's bottom when he ran into something soft. A body.

Reaching forward, he grabbed the girl, then swam upward as fast as he could, darkness growing at the edges of his vision. He needed air, but his failing sight could not show him how close he was to the surface. The pain and numbness setting in threatened to plunge him into permanent darkness. For a moment, Sarik thought of giving up.

_NO!_ he told himself. _I will not die!_

Sarik's resolve brought forth a flurry of strength, which he used to force himself and his charge upward. As his strength started to wane, he burst upward out of the water, almost loosing his grip on Stella. He regained his grip on her, then set her body on the water so it would float.

As quickly as he could, Sarik paddled over to the nearest edge of the lake, pushing Stella's body onto land before pulling himself up. He lay on his stomach, shivering for a moment, then remembered his personal mission.

He eyed the shores of the lake, looking for his medical kit. He spotted it nearby, a few dozen meters away. Sarik leaped painfully to his feat and ran as fast as he could to retrieve it, stumbling like a drunk man from the exhaustion.

Sarik quickly made sure everything was intact. Before he had come on this trip, he had planned for every scenario he could think of, including death. He had come especially well prepared for most scenarios involving water, hoping he had interpreted the vision correctly.

During his early years of college, Sarik had done a report on the human body's amazing ability for self-preservation. Sometimes, when exposed to freezing temperatures for dangerous amounts of time, the human body would enter into a temporary state of suspended animation. Blood would pool around the heart and brain, saturating them in oxygen in as a natural preservation mechanism. The body would be clinically dead, but when exposed to enough of certain stimuli, such as a defibrillator, or sometimes even just CPR, it would come out of this state. It was because of this that people had survived for over twenty-four hours after having "died" in cold environments, then reanimated with little or no brain damage. In the modern medical field, it was not uncommon to induce this state and freeze a body to prolong a critical patient's life. It was even possible, occasionally, to induce this state after death, if the body's temperature was dropped to near freezing temperatures within a short amount of time after death.

Sarik hoped that this was one of those special occasions, or he would have wasted all of this for nothing.

As he approached Stella, pulled out of his kit a pair of small syringes, filled with a liquid saturated in pure oxygen, nutrients, and cell-regenerating compounds.

He searched her body, trying to find a vein leading to the heart, but her suit was in the way, his only access being the head and neck.

Frustrated with his impulsive actions, Sarik scooped up Stella and began running back to the site where he left his things. Realistically, he was in no rush. Either she could be revived or not. A few more minutes wouldn't make a significant difference at this point. But he didn't care.

Once he arrived at his former hiding place, Sarik dropped Stella into the deepest amount of snow he could find, trying to keep her body as cold as possible until he could find what he needed.

Sarik searched through his things, finding his combat knife. He ran over to Stella and pulled it from its sheath. Carefully, the boy began to cut through her suit, exposing the light underclothing that most pilots wore under their flight suits and uniforms.

From there, he cut to the arms, not once nicking her flesh. Once he was satisfied, he began again to search for an appropriate vein, but the quick freezing that the water had caused made them shrink to the point where Sarik couldn't locate any. Straight into the heart, then.

He prepared the syringe, making sure no air was left in it, and with one quick jab, he stabbed the needle into her heart, injected its healing substance, and pulled it out.

Sarik prepared the other syringe, this one far shorter than any other needle in the medical field. So short, in fact, one would generally have an impossible time trying to find a vein for it. But this one wasn't meant for a vein. This was meant for a human's brain.

Sarik lifted Stella's head, searching for the unprotected fleshy area right above the spine. After moving her short hair out of the way, Sarik centered the needle and carefully forced it through her skin, straight into the brain. This needle, pressure activated, immediately injected its substance into her, allowing Sarik to pull it out within a second of penetration.

Sarik moved away from her and replaced the used needles, then found a blanket and a small heating pack among his emergency supplies. He lay the blanket out and lifted Stella onto it, then placed the heating pack next to her, hoping it would help once she was conscious. Hypothermia was imminent.

From here, he knew what to do by heart. Sarik tilted Stella's chin back and opened her mouth, making sure her airway was clear. He put his mouth on hers and forced two breaths into her.

Then he began pushing on her chest, hard and desperately.


	5. Chapter 4

**CE 63**

Before Sarik could say anything else, two boys decided to take their seats next to Stella. One had dark brown hair and blue eyes, while the other had black hair and what appeared to almost be amber colored eyes.

"I can't believe how many losers there are here," the brown haired boy remarked to the black haired one. He glanced once at Sarik and rested his gaze on Stella.

"You guys aren't losers, right?" the brown haired one asked jokingly.

"I don't think so," Sarik replied, hoping this was the correct answer.

"Thought so," the brown boy remarked. "I'm Alex, and he goes by Grey."

"That's my actual name!" the black haired boy said defensively.

"Whatever," Alex replied, unconvinced. "So what are your names?"

"I'm Sarik," he introduced.

"Stella," she answered quietly.

"So, you guys know what this place is?" Alex asked.

"Maybe a summer camp?" Sarik suggested.

"I don't think so," Grey remarked.

"It's as good of an idea as any," Alex said.

"It's a punishment," insisted Grey.

Everyone remained silent for a moment, thinking.

"Why do you say that?" Sarik questioned.

"Because I tried breaking out of a place just like this, and they sent me here," replied Grey.

"What were you doing there?" Sarik inquired.

"I don't know," Grey replied. "I don't THINK I did anything wrong. One day these guys just showed up at the orphanage and took me in the night."

"You're an orphan?" Sarik asked.

Grey looked away from him for a moment before he replied.

"Aren't you?" he questioned.

"No," Sarik replied. "I'm staying here with my brother."

"What about her?" Grey asked.

"I don't know, we were just talking," Sarik told him.

"What, did your parents dump you at some orphanage?" Alex asked her cockily.

Stella started crying.

_*** * ***_

William stepped silently into the observation room, though, despite his attempts at concealment, was still noticed.

"Welcome, sir," one of the room's occupants greeted.

"Good afternoon," William replied, his irritation evident in the way he held his shoulders. However, rebuilding his composure, the businessman strolled in and sat in an empty chair located along the room's monitor array.

"Sir, do you know where Director Hellice is?" the same man asked William from across the room.

"He has been reassigned elsewhere," William informed the younger man. "I will be taking his place as the director for now."

"Oh...yes, Director."

For the next hour, a team of psychologists, along with William, watched the hundreds of children as they bustled about the cafeteria. He observed how the children grouped themselves into units of various sizes. Some of the more secure ones grouped into smaller units of three or four, while the more independent children sat among the various groups, though remaining separate. It was sadly noted that roughly half of the children found a place out of the way and kept to themselves, showing overly-submissive and dependent behavior.

_They could prove to be a problem down the road,_ William thought about the shy ones.

William was glancing over the various arrays when he spied a nearly empty table at the back of the room occupied by four children. He quickly realized that his brother among them.

_Interesting._

"Doctor Fredrick, please put cluster fifty on the main screen," William requested.

Soon after, the main screen in the observation room was concentrated on the children.

"Zoom in," William ordered, not needing to specify on whom.

The camera zoomed in on the four. Sarik and one of the boys appeared to be attempting to calm the young girl, who was crying, though for what reason was as good a guess as anyone's.

"Can we get sound?" William asked.

"No, sir, too much noise in the general area," replied Fredrick, who controlled the monitors.

_So we can only go on speculation,_ William thought.

"Doctors, I believe that perhaps these are possible candidates," William observed. "What say you?"

"I think it's far to early to begin speculating on units, don't you think?" commented one doctor.

"I believe we should put them through standard testing and conditioning before we jump any conclusions," agreed another. "However, I do believe we should attempt to test them together. Such familiarity so early on is good for a working unit."

"Second opinions?" William asked the others.

Most of the doctors agreed, while some either disagreed or believed that all unit training should be postponed until after all of the testing ended.

"Then it's settled," William said. "Have the guards separate them. We're going to begin unit training immediately and see how things go from there."

_*** * ***_

"What did I say?" Alex asked defensively.

Grey and Sarik simply glared at him before returning their attention to Stella.

Eventually, they managed to calm Stella enough that she started speaking in a familiar manner with the boys, albeit not as much.

Sarik had eaten a few more bites of his now-cold food when four large men walked over to his table.

"Time for bed," one said gruffly.

Sarik glanced around at the rest of the children, some who were just now sitting down to eat.

"What about everyone else?" Sarik asked.

"Time for bed!" the same man insisted in a more threatening tone.

"What if we're not tired?" Alex asked in a brat-like tone.

The guard standing next to Alex backhanded him, causing his nose to bleed.

"Do as you're told!" ordered the man who hit Alex.

The four sat unmoving, not sure what to do next. After he recovered, Alex spat at the man who struck him.

As the man made a move to grab Alex, Stella did something unexpected. She yelled as she jumped up out of her seat and threw herself at the man antagonizing Alex, tackling him in the stomach and causing him to stumble.

Stella's assault proved to be the final straw. All four men grabbed their charges, picked them up with their limbs pinned, and quickly carried the kicking and screaming children out of the cafeteria. They were all carried through the maze of hallways to another part of the facility. In this area, metal, windowless doors lined the hallway.

Sarik struggled with a renewed vigor, afraid of this place for some irrational reason. He heard a large 'CLANK', and one of the doors cracked ajar. He was dumped inside, the door quickly slammed shut behind him.

After his initial surge of adrenaline passed, Sarik stood up and observed his surroundings. The room was only a couple meters wide, with a ceiling that appeared to be several meters tall, though in reality, it was only three. The walls and the interior part of the door were colored a gloss black, initially making it difficult for Sarik to gain his bearings. At the top of the wall opposing the door, bordering the ceiling, there was a large, open window letting in a cool breeze. It was so large than an adult could easily crawl through it, much less a child. However, Sarik could find no apparent way to get up to the window, as the room was completely empty accept for a small light fixture in the center of the cieling.

Within a few minutes, it flickered off, plunging Sarik into complete darkness. He walked to a wall, found a corner, and started crying.

_Why did he bring me here? Did I do something wrong? Do Mom and Dad know where I am?_

_*** * ***_

William sat in the faculty lounge, completely alone except for the facility's new head doctor. He took another swig of scotch from his glass, letting the alcohol sit on his tongue for a moment before swallowing.

"You do realize that your brother probably won't make it through the summer," the middle-aged man across from William pointed out before taking a sip of alcohol from his own glass.

"Yes, Doctor Spence, I realize that," William replied. "I'm confident, however, that he will provide us with the information we need."

"We've never performed any of our procedures on a Coordinator before," informed Dr. Spence. "The results could be fatal to him, for all we know. Even our most basic, most refined operations might kill him."

"And with the same odds in mind, it could improve his body far more than any pure-blooded Natural," remarked William. "Considering the fact he has the some of the physic of a Coordinator, he could easily survive the drugs we give him, even in dangerously high dosages."

"But what of the new drugs that he will be subjected to?" asked Spence. "They were completely designed with Naturals in mind."

"If the Coordinators begin experimenting in performance enhancement of any sort, do you think they would stop when it gets a little dangerous? " William asked. "We have to get the edge on them NOW, leaving room for error in case of unforeseeable problems in the future."

"Are you not even remotely concerned for your brother's health?" the middle-aged doctor questioned.

William emptied his glass, then refilled it with more scotch.

"Sarik is no more a brother to me than any other Coordinator," William declared.

William paused for a moment to take a another sip from his drink.

"You are starting to sound like you have some doubts," William told Spence in a very serious tone. "Are you sure you can handle the tasks required of you, Doctor?"

"I am the most capable doctor here," Spence replied arrogantly. "I simply find it disturbing that you would so quickly turn on your own, Coordinator or not."

"He is NOT one of my own!" William yelled, having become somewhat drunk by this point, his restraint failing. "He was alienated from my family when my 'oh so loving' parents decided to 'give him the best' and make him into the abomination he is!"

Both sat in silence for a moment, finishing what alcohol remained in their glasses.

"I'm no expert in psychology," started the doctor, emboldened by the strong alcohol, "but it sounds to me like you're somewhat jealous."

William's face grew red.

"I will forgive your insolence this time, Doctor, but choose your words FAR more carefully in the future," William threatened before stumbling out of his chair and leaving.

_*** * ***_

Sarik had finally cried himself asleep to a deep slumber, accompanied by a vivid dream.

In this dream, he was trapped in the same room that he was sleeping in now. It was pitch black, and he waited for hours for sleep to come. It would not. He started to scramble about the room, trying to find some way out as desperation set in.

He was so desperate that he tried to climb the flat walls towards the window, though to no avail. He kept trying and trying, failing each time. For some reason, he decided to try once more. The last time he attempted to scale the wall, he felt an irregularity along one corner. When he got back to his feet from the last fall, he decided to explore the wall with his sense of touch.

As he did so, he found small breaks just large enough for him to fit his fingertips and toes into. He found more of the indentions all along the corner. He forced his way up the corner with his right foot, using his right hand to quickly find the next hole, and his left limbs to balance himself on the wall. He continued with this routine, eventually reaching the the window. As he was about to pull himself up through the portal, the metal frame slammed shut, crushing his fingers and forcing him to let go.

He was falling, blood-curdling screaming dominating the air around him.

_*** * ***_

Sarik woke up abruptly, right as he had felt himself hitting the ground.

Dim morning light shone in through the window, causing the walls to glow an eerie red. Sarik stared up at that tempting exit for a few moments, then sighed. There was no way that escape could be so easy as in the dream.

As Sarik balled up to try to fall back to sleep, he noticed something odd about the wall. Parts of it were shadowing others in excess.

A stake of hope buried itself in Sarik's mind as he jumped up and ran over to the wall. He felt along those irregular areas and, as in the dream, the breaks were there. Someone wouldn't notice the indentions unless light from a partially obscured source hit it just right and the person searching knew what they were looking for.

However, remembering his fall in the dream, Sarik decided it better to wait before attempting to climb the wall. Instead, he simply memorized the indentions' apparent locations.

When the light from the sun was a bright yellow, from around nine or ten o'clock in the morning, the metal door to the room opened. Sarik jumped enthusiastically to his feet as a tall, large man with a metal whistle in his mouth walked in. He let out a half-second burst before he realized Sarik was standing right in front of him, completely awake and alert.

"Good, an early riser," the man remarked. "I'll be your instructor today. Whatever I say, you do. Understand?"

Sarik nodded his head once with a smile on his face, though his happiness was not directed at this stranger.

"Good. Now before we get started, we have to get your friends."

Sarik followed the instructor as he walked over to the door next to Sarik's cell. He opened it up, and inside was Stella, sleeping peacefully in one corner. The instructor walked inside and blew his whistle as loud as humanly possible for several seconds, causing Stella to wake up immediately. She jumped to her feet as quickly as she could, stumbling as her body's blood pressure adjusted from a relaxed state to a state of sudden activity.

Rather than wasting breath on remarks, the instructor simply ordered her, "Follow me."

As she left her cell, Sarik caught Stella's attention and flashed her a smile, which was quickly returned.

The instructor walked across the hallway and retrieved Grey and Alex in a similar fashion, both whom were less jumpy than Stella. In fact, Alex came out of his cell yawning, less likely out of exhaustion and more likely an odd attempt at annoying the instructor.

"Follow me and don't get lost, or it's an extra week of nights in the cell," the instructor informed the four.

Sarik, Stella, Grey, and Alex all followed their new instructor, keeping up as best as they could, even though it meant jogging at times to match their instructor's long and impatient stride.

The instructor lead them into a large locker room where dozens of children and several instructors were bustling around. He walked over to a set of four blue lockers. It appeared all of the lockers were color coded, some in groups up to twelve, others by themselves.

"You four are now considered Blue Team," the instructor informed the four. "Your group will work together during training, and your individual performance performance will be judged by the team's overall accomplishments. Out here, failure is not tolerated, and WILL be punished. Failure to work together over an extended period of time may result in this team's permanent...removal."

"So this is like a game?" Alex asked.

"You can say that," replied the large man.

Sarik didn't buy this, but kept any remarks to himself.

"Now, for the assignments," the instructor mumbled out loud.

"Sarik Ostheim, front and center!" yelled the trainer.

Sarik strolled in front of the instructor and looked up at him, making eye contact.

"You do not make eye contact at attention, Ostheim!" scolded the instructor. "Eyes forward, back straight, arms at your sides!"

Sarik corrected himself.

"Better," said the instructor. "From now on, you will be known as Blue One."

The instructor walked over to the blue locker farthest to the left and pulled out a dark blue sweatshirt, a pair of gray sweatpants, and a set of underwear. Over the left breast of the shirt was a large white number one. The instructor handed Sarik the articles of clothing.

"Get dressed," the instructor commanded.

"Where?" asked Sarik.

"Right here," he replied.

"But..."

"You will strip your clothing and change this instant, or you will have two days in the cells added to your team's current five for your tantrums last night!" yelled the instructor.

Sarik turned his back to the four and did so as quickly as possible, somewhat squeamish and embarrassed about it. He was still debating from yesterday whether or not it was appropriate.

As he changed, the instructor assigned Stella, Grey, and Alex as Blues Two, Three, and Four, respectively.

"Now, your numbers have nothing to do with who's the leader or who's superior," informed the trainer. "I will not tolerate any arguments of this matter in my team. It will earn the team at least five days in the cells. Am I understood?"

"Yes, sir," replied all four of them, some more enthusiastic than others.

"Now get your rears through that door and outside!" ordered the instructor.

The four started walking towards the door until their instructor struck Sarik on the shoulder with the thin side of a flat-handed blow.

"Faster!" he yelled, and began striking whomever he got closest to.

Running down the hallway in the opposite direction from which they came, they eventually came upon a large, automatic door. It lead outside, where a gigantic running track and several obstacle courses were located.

"You have five minutes to stretch," the instructor informed Blue Team as he came to a stop near the track

* * *

"What should we do?" Sarik inquired.

"Get creative," the instructor replied coldly.

Sarik personally only remembered a few stretches from his physical education classes in the the school he went to, which didn't have the most emphasized physical testing program in his age group. Anyway, he was used to someone else telling him what to do.

"Try to touch your toes," Sarik suggested to the others as he demonstrated.

As the others bent down to attempt the stretch, the instructor walked over to Sarik and kicked him over, causing him to flat onto his stomach, skinning his arms and chin.

"I did not give you permission to speak!" yelled the instructor.

Sarik got back up, a tear streaking down his cheek.

"Oh, did I make you cry?" the instructor remarked mockingly.

Sarik glared at the large man as he wiped the tear away and proceeded to do the few stretches he remembered. The others imitated him without a word.

A few minutes later, every child stretching was gathered onto the track. They were then lined up, side to side based on their team's color.

"Stand at attention!" each instructor yelled, including Blue Team's.

Sarik stood at this new position as best he could, but found that he was unable to keep his eyes from wandering once he saw someone walk out of the facility, followed by several other men. The distinguishing thing about this man was that he was Sarik's older brother, William.

William walked to a distance in front of the line where he could be seen and heard by everyone.

"Hello, children," he started enthusiastically. "Welcome to this facility. I am the director here, and I will personally be informing you on the activities you will be participating in during your stay."

He took a moment to breath.

"You will be participating in a series of tests and competitions against the other teams. There will be no rewards for successful completion of your tasks. However, there will be punishment for lack of performance, and repeated failures will be rewarded with elimination, which will result in the ultimate punishment."

William let this set in.

"Here, you will be trained to be the best you can be, to surpass your fellow Naturals, eventually to become the ultimate soldiers."

_This isn't a camp! _thought Sarik.

From that moment on, Sarik began contemplating a way to escape. He associated soldier with war, and he had always been taught war was not a good thing, at least by his mother.

"If you fail in this, your life's options will be severely...limited. However, I have the utmost confidence that you will not fail."

Sarik felt as if someone was boring holes into his forehead, and he percieved that those last few words were meant for him. Sarik couldn't tell from here, but he thought he caught his brother attempting to make eye contact.

One of the men that had been following William remained where he was, rather than following him and the rest of the faculty, who were filing back inside the facility.

"All right, here's how it works," he yelled. "A single lap on this track is three kilometers. You will be required to complete this course in less than thirty minutes, or your team will spend three days in the cells. The last three teams to complete the course will be eliminated."

From somewhere on the facility, a horn went off, followed by a man's monotone voice saying, "Thirty minutes left."

All of the instructors began yelling at their charges to begin running. Some did so immediately, others required "encouragement".

Blue Team began running as fast as they could, trying to get ahead of their progressively abusive instructor. After a couple minutes, however, they began to grow winded, and Sarik's legs were beginning to grow sore.

Sarik, remembering the man's briefing, ran forward of the group for a few minutes, trying to finish the lap for the entire team. Then, he remembered the instructor's words about "overall accomplishments". He didn't know how this applied, so he slowed down, waiting for the rest of Blue Team to catch up.

"Fifteen minutes," said the facility's speakers.

Sarik was barely halfway through, and it appeared that the rest of Blue Team wasn't doing nearly as well. It seemed that Stella was having the hardest time, and as a result, Grey and Alex were intentionally slowing down to take the beatings the instructor was so eager to give out.

Sarik stopped, then turned around and ran back towards the rest of Blue Team.

As he passed Stella, he could hear her heavy panting and see how red her skin had turned.

When he fell back to where Grey and Alex were running, barely outside of the instructor's grasp, he noticed several bruises and bumps on their heads and knew there were bound to be more on their backs.

"What the hell are you doing, Blue One?!" yelled the instructor. "Get your ass in gear!"

Sarik allowed slowed himself down, maneuvering himself between Grey and Alex as he did so.

"My turn," he told them as he pushed them forward. They needed no more encouragement.

Sarik kept altering his speed in an unpredictable fashion, keeping just ahead of the instructor, taking only a few beatings, though they were with the instructor's full force.

The instructor had realized what Sarik was trying to do from the beginning, and quickly grew frustrated. He darted past Sarik, quickly gaining ground on Grey and Alex, who were trying to motivate Stella into moving faster.

Something in his subconscious clicked, and Sarik suddenly had the urge and adrenaline to run after the instructor.

Somehow, he managed to catch up with the large man and, without thinking, swept one of his leg outwards. He caught the large man by the ankle, and he smashed face first onto the concrete, letting out no sound as he made contact.

Sarik ran past the fallen instructor to catch up with the rest of his team.

"Five minutes," the facility speakers announced.

Sarik was almost caught up with Grey, Alex, and Stella. Stella wasn't holding up at all, and the other two weren't much better off.

"We better start running faster," Sarik told them when he caught up. "I tripped the instructor. He won't be happy when he catches up to us."

Alex let out the closest thing to a chuckle he could muster, then ran ahead at his fastest pace.

Grey looked Sarik in the eye and he immediately realized his concern.

"Go!" exclaimed Sarik.

Sarik continued to follow immediately behind Stella, keeping an eye out for their instructor. He had to get her moving. The boy doubted she would appreciate the man's attacks anymore than he or the others did. Pain was not a desirable thing.

"Four minutes," the speakers said.

"Come on Stella, there's only a little bit left!" Sarik encouraged, panting heavily now. "If we can get this done, we can take a break."

"I can't," Stella huffed between her heavy breaths.

"Three minutes," informed the speakers.

Sarik kept pace with Stella, staying at her side. He glanced back to see if the instructor was following them or not. He spotted a man with a bloody face running past all the children and instructors at a sprinting pace. He looked EXTREMELY unhappy.

"Stella, we have to run!" Sarik exclaimed. "He's coming!"

"Two minutes," informed the speakers.

Stella knew exactly what Sarik was talking about, and somehow found the energy to bolt forward. She and Sarik ran their all. A short distance ahead, they could see Grey and Alex pacing around in an attempt to cool off from their run.

"One minute," the speakers reported.

Sarik and Stella kept running, not looking back.

"Thirty seconds," the speakers announced.

The speakers started to make a ticking sound in cadence with the seconds passing by.

They just kept running, hoping.

"Twenty seconds."

No stopping.

"Ten seconds."

A burst of energy and the final bolt.

"Five seconds!" yelled a lady dressed in a blue t-shirt standing on the edge of the track as they passed the starting line.

Stella walked over to the dirt area surrounding the track, then collapsed onto her knees.

"Walk it off, kids, walk it off," she ordered.

Grey spotted Stella and Sarik, quickly running over to assist them, the uninformed Alex following a short distance behind.

When Grey arrived, he helped Sarik pick Stella up and make her walk around. After she was moving on her own, Sarik wandered a little from Blue Team, not paying attention to his surroundings as he caught his own breath.

Then he noticed the instructor running at him only a few meters away, followed by two security guards.

Sarik dove into the crowd around him in an attempt to use it to his advantage, but the enraged instructor bulled right through them and smashed into Sarik, knocking him to the ground. Sarik was stunned by the blow, never having experienced anything so immediately painful, nor ever having had to defend himself.

The instructor started to kick him, hitting Sarik in the arm, the stomach, the chest...

Suddenly, it stopped. Sarik opened his eyes and looked over at the instructor. He was being pinned to the ground by the pair of security guards, the ones who were chasing him seconds before.

"Let me go, you idiots!" the instructor yelled.

The enraged man attempted to struggle, receiving a blow to the mid-back with a tong fe for it.

"I'll kill you, you little bastard!" he yelled at Sarik with a crazed expression. "You and your little bitch friends!"

The guards attempted to drag the crazed instructor away, but when his struggling grew too intense for even the two of them, one pulled out a syringe and stabbed it into his arm, causing him to relax almost instantly.

Sarik rose to his feet, wiping the blood out of his eyes and off his face.

"Are you alright?" the lady in the blue shirt asked in a truly concerned tone.

Sarik sniffed in once, then spat in disgust as the foul tasting blood entered his mouth.

"I'm okay," he replied.

"Let's get you to the infirmary," she insisted.

"What about the team?" Sarik asked.

"They can't do anything without the full team, so they're coming with us," she answered.

After reuniting Sarik with Stella, Grey, and Alex, the assistant instructor spoke with one of the doctors, who shook his head, indicating a yes. She told them to follow her, which they did, more willingly than with their instructor. This one seemed relatively nice.

_*** * ***_

"The boy has guts," commented Doctor Spence. "It's unfortunate he is a Coordinator."

"It won't make a much of a difference," replied William. "Most of these children will die before they finish the modification process, and most of those remaining will die in any wars to come. He is merely an experiment so that we may get the most out of them."

"So you believe there will be a full-fledged war?" the doctor asked.

"When we are strong enough as an organization and have enough weapons," he said, indicating at the screens observing the children.

"Mentioning our 'weapons', what are we going to do with the children who fail?"

"We will use some of them as test subjects for our newer drugs after they have been tested on Blue One. Others will be reintegrated for use as practice runs. IF any survive, we'll possibly use them for a test run to estimate an Extended's full combat potential."

The doctor grimaced.

"So you plan on using those gruesome tactics for the elimination process?" he asked.

"They worked on the earlier subjects, didn't they?" replied William.

"The few who are still alive," replied the doctor.

Few Extendeds were still alive in the present day from Blue Cosmos's original experiments, something that those running the current program were not allowed to forget.

The last remark brought about a short moment of silence as William remembered this and some of the horrible things that happened to those who didn't make it.

"What are your projections for failure?" William asked, breaking the silence.

"Well, today, Azure, Vermilion, and Cyan teams were eliminated due to failure during the initial three kilometer run. Azure team consisted of a single male, ten years old, showed to be a promising lone wolf, but the psyche profile showed him to be impulsive and overconfident. He wasn't a grave loss. Vermilion consisted of ten children that we grouped together at random, showing little promise due to their inability to break past their social and mental barriers during introduction to the facility. None of them even completed the run, much less in time. Cyan, well..."

"Well?" asked William.

"They were one of our more promising units."

"Why didn't they make it?" William asked curiously.

"Because their instructor beat one of the children to the point of collapse on the track. When one of his team mates attempted to assist him, he also was beaten, to the point of unconsciousness. By the time security arrived, the run was too far gone for them to catch up. They were halfway around the track with five minutes left. This was also the problem with Azure team."

William sighed.

"Unfortunately, we can't afford to go back on the protocols WE created. This is as much a lottery as it is a test of skill."

"However, perhaps we can replace the some of the instructors," suggested the doctor. "I see the reasoning behind using some of our more...unstable members as instructors. It helps to prepare the children for war. The unfortunate fact is that too many promising units may be lost early on as a result of the use of excessive force, with which many of these instructors seem to have no restraint."

"They won't get such mercy in war," William stated.

"They're children, for crying out loud! The eldest we won't be battle ready for at least four or five years."

William thought for several long moments.

"I see your point. I want the assistant instructors to replace any instructor deemed unstable."

William walked towards the observation room's exit.

"Wait, you never did give me your complete failure rate projections," he said.

The doctor sighed.

"Fifty percent elimination during initial preparation and a forty percent death rate during conditioning."

"Unfortunate. Do you expect those figures to change?"

"Yes," replied the doctor.

"For the better?" asked William.

The doctor thought for a moment.

"Possibly," he replied solemnly.

_*** * ***_

Sarik was returned to his cell that evening after his check-up, to his disdain. The doctor who had examined him said that there was nothing worry about. Something about "micro-fractures" in the facial bones, but the doctor didn't seem too concerned about those.

Sarik hadn't a chance to eat anything today, primarily due to the fact that the infirmary was so crowded. Apparently, he wasn't the only one with a problematic instructor. The feeling hunger brought him, though, was most unpleasant. He hadn't realized it up until now, but he had never missed a meal before.

Fortunately, he HAD been given a chance to get showered and change back into his green hospital clothes. While they were uncomfortable, it felt much better to be in something clean and cool instead of those hot, sweaty workout clothes.

Night time was falling, but if what Sarik's new instructor had said was accurate, then lights out wouldn't be for another two or so hours.

During this time, Sarik practiced climbing up and down the makeshift ladder in his cell's corner.

After he perfected his climbing technique, he contemplated how it got there. It would have taken a while for someone to carve these notches out of the smooth, stone wall, then paint it so perfectly with an incomprehensible number of shades of black to blend in with the wall and not be found over a period of time. Most likely, it was a contractor's defect, one that would have taken them more time than they would have liked to fix, thus the reason they concealed it.

After what seemed like an eternity, the lights finally went out. Sarik made his move. He quickly scaled up the wall, then pulled himself out of the window without any problems.

He took a quick look around. He appeared to be in some sort of outside storage area, where large spools of wire, building materials, safety equipment, and other miscellaneous items were just laying around.

He walked towards the edge of the storage yard, looking for a way out. He found a large fence, but it was three meters tall, lined with razor wire strewn at random alond it from top to bottom.

_So I just have to get passed this, _Sarik speculated.

_*** * ***_

_It's nearly midnight. Who is going to be awake at this hour?_

The security guard was boredly watching a series of monitors connected to surveillance cameras, which showed almost no activity throughout this section of the facility.

_Nothing but construction equipment and sleeping brats here._

He continued to grow even more bored as another hour passed by.

_Screw it._

After quickly glancing over the entire monitor array, the security guard changed the channel on the main monitor from flashing between the various cameras to a local television news station.

Had he been paying more attention to the security cameras, he would have noticed an eight year old boy climbing down into one of the cells he was charged to watch.

_*** * ***_

Sarik curled up in the corner and started laughing quietly.

_It's going to be alright_, Sarik told himself. _We'll get out of here. We'll be fine._


	6. Chapter 5

**CE 74**

Minutes later, Sarik was abruptly stopped when Stella lurched forward and forced the water from her lungs, then fell onto her back and took in a deep breath. Sarik watched as her chest rose and sank.

_She's alive!_ he thought, truly amazed. The chances of her actually surviving something like this were infinitesimally small. They were made even smaller by the circumstances, and the lack of the modern technology generally used to perform such a feat. The modifications of an Extended truly could produce some amazing results.

But just as quickly as she had come to, Stella then let out a pained gasp, and her breathing suddenly stopped.

_No, no, no! _Sarik thought in frustration and despair.

Sarik bent back over her and felt her chest directly for a pulse. There it was. Faint and slow, but existent.

Then, while Sarik's hands were still touching her body, it abruptly stopped.

Before he let panic set in, Sarik attempted CPR once more. After a couple of cycles, Stella was still not breathing. Reaching over, Sarik ripped open his medical kit and desperately tried to find something. Anything.

Then, calming himself, Sarik replayed his dream in his mind. In it, he had stabbed her four times with a blurred object. If experience was worth anything, Stella was most likely a full-fledged Extended. They put her through those same, painful surgeries that had made him into the creature he was now. Most likely, that meant that she had to undergo some sort of recalibration similar to his, if they used the same operations.

_But they were probably more refined, _he deduced.

Sarik pulled out four previously filled syringes full of his liquid maintenance and a single, large hypodermic needle, which he filled with his small supply of pure adrenaline. He quickly injected the cocktail directly into Stella's heart, followed by the adrenaline shot.

Sarik quickly pulled the needle out and stepped back, in order to avoid any mishaps. There was no telling how Stella would react with all her programming, which was most likely far more excessive and even less restrained than his own.

But Sarik counted to ten seconds, and still no reaction. Fifteen. After twenty, he knew something was wrong.

The young man fell down by Stella's side and felt for a pulse. It was nearly undetectable, one beat every few seconds, and Stella still wasn't breathing. Sarik had to get her breathing again, or her pulse would stop completely, and the adrenaline would do irreparable damage to her heart.

Sarik began assisting Stella's breathing immediately, giving her his strongest breaths and pushes.

After his third attempt, her eyes shot open, the iris's barely visible. Stella let out a scream, then grabbed the nearest thing she could find, which happened to be Sarik's unsheathed knife.

Sarik jumped back as the girl attempted a slice out at him, barely catching himself in the now-slippery snow. He kept moving backwards, allowing Stella to gain ground on him as she lunged at him with his knife. Her suit had fallen down to her waist from the cutting he had done, leaving her upper body covered with nothing but light underclothing. From the way she fought, Sarik realized that she could keep going on for a little while, having had the maximum safe dose of adrenaline and being freshly re-calibrated.

Sarik was careful with his movements, as these were not desperate, uncalculated attacks. The girl was well trained with a knife, and she showed it in every aspect of her movements. However, as she moved close to Sarik and stabbed, Stella overextended just a little bit. This was all Sarik needed to get his leg around hers and trip her to the ground with a mere push. As Stella slammed into the snow, Sarik bolted back towards his supplies and grabbed the medical kit.

Stella was charging towards him as he pulled out three automatic hypodermicals filled with heavy anesthetics, supplies that he never planned on using, but brought along nonetheless. Sarik threw himself out of her way, rolling to his feet. Stella charged at him once more, letting out a desperate, animal-like scream. She was growing frustrated. She moved in on Sarik once more and let loose an outward slash. Sarik barely avoided death, receiving a nick strong enough to cut through his dry suit and grip at his clothing.

As Stella attempted to bring her knife hand back into a defensive position, Sarik grabbed her wrist and squeezed while twisting it, forcing her to drop the knife. He grabbed the young soldier's other arm and brought her closer to himself, pinning her arms to her sides in a position that looked similar to a hug.

Stella began flailing, desperately trying to break Sarik's grip. He was caught off guard by her strength, and was soon knocked back as she pushed off the ground and drove him forward with the strength of her legs alone. Sarik lost his grip on Stella as he fell and dropped the anesthetics in hand. Stella straddled Sarik and gripped her hands around his throat, forcing his neck to the ground and choking him. He brought his hands up to try to fend her off, but it was useless. The girl was just too strong and determined.

Sarik was on the verge on passing out when he managed to grasp one of the syringes with his fingertips. He quickly gained a hold on it and stabbed it into Stella's side.

Instantly, her grip grew weaker, most likely from the surprise. Sarik used the distraction to pull Stella's hands from his throat and throw her aside. She quickly jumped to her feet and charged him, showing no sign of fatigue. She leaped and flew towards him, extending her leg in mid-air.

Sarik barely had time to brace himself before the crazed Extended smashed into him, her kick landing directly in his stomach. Sarik tried to ignore the pain, but it was still enough to force him to hunch over slightly. Stella took advantage of this, throwing up another kick, this one hitting him square in the face.

Sarik fell onto his back, his face a bloody mess. By this point, he was truly contemplating on whether to give up or not, but quickly quelled those thoughts as he somersaulted backwards to prepare his defense.

Stella charged Sarik once more, somehow having found time to retrieve his knife. She slashed and slashed at him, but Sarik had examined her pattern of attack, and was far more prepared to defend himself this time. Still, he had nothing with which to take her on, and he knew Stella would cut him to shreds if he tried to engage her unarmed.

Sarik almost lost his balance on something as he was walking backwards. He slammed his foot down on it, hoping it was what he needed.

He was right, and a long stick several centimeters thick flew up out of the snow, which Sarik snatched out of the air. Wasting no time, he stabbed it at Stella, catching her in the center of the chest.

Stella let out a gasp as the wind was knocked out of her, then a yelp as Sarik expertly brought the other end of his stick into the side of her head, knocking her to the ground.

Sarik knew she wouldn't be down long, so he dropped the stick and sprinted back to where he lost the anesthetics. He quickly found them, then prepared himself for another wave of Stella's brutal attacks.

She was not far, only a meter or two away when Sarik turned. Stella lunged at him with the knife, but this time her attack was sloppy. She was growing tired, and it was effecting her performance.

Sarik dodged out of the way of the child's attack and extended his leg, tripping her. He quickly jumped onto Stella's back and used his body's weight to hold her down, her struggles no longer a significant concern to him.

Quickly and accurately, Sarik stabbed the remaining two syringes into one of her arms, then put his full weight into Stella's back as her flailing reached a new ferocity, the anesthetics having yet to take effect.

A few moments later, Sarik could definitely tell she was calming down, and rolled Stella onto her back when he was sure she couldn't fight any longer.

"It's alright," Sarik told her. "You're safe."

She stared at him for a moment, a combined expression of rage and spitefulness dominating her otherwise innocent face.

"I'm going to try to move you," Sarik informed. "Let me know if I'm hurting you and I'll stop."

She simply nodded her head in compliance, the sedatives obviously setting in.

Sarik picked her up in his arms, carrying her back over to the emergency blanket still laying open on the snowy ground.

As he carried Stella, Sarik never broke eye contact with her. By the time they arrived back at Sarik's things, Stella's purple eyes had softened to the point where she no longer looked angry or desperate. She was looking at him almost as if she remembered him.

As Sarik set Stella down onto the blanket, a smirk formed on her mouth, then she closed her eyes and fell asleep.

Sarik didn't worry. She wasn't dead. He knew that. Simply sleeping. Simply sleeping...

**_* * *  
_**

Stella stared up at her captor, for some reason, no longer afraid. No longer angry. No longer alone.

_Shinn? _she thought for a moment.

No, this was someone else. Shinn didn't have those cold blue eyes. His eyes were a fiery red. Filled with so much sorrowful anger, yet still caring. And he looked different, younger. This was someone older. Someone even sadder. She couldn't quite remember who he was. But that happened a lot. It was like living in a world of de ja vu.

As darkness threatened to consume her, a short memory filled Stella's mind.

She was hurting, but not alone. Someone was holding her close. Like a sibling or a parent trying to comfort another.

_Sarik._

Before she fell asleep, Stella smiled. She didn't know why, just that it felt right.


	7. Chapter 6

**CE 63**

Sarah hit the snooze button, silencing the annoying racket that the alarm clock was making. She started to clump back into her bed, but, knowing that if she didn't get up now she would fall back to sleep, quickly threw off her thin blanket and stretched. She glanced around the small, cramped room in which she slept, quickly remembering that she was no longer at home, but a Blue Cosmos training center.

Sarah also remembered the disappointment that she had felt the day before. She had accepted this job under the premise that she would assist in training new soldiers who would eventually be able to combat the Coordinators. Several promotions within the Blue Cosmos organization were promised for her services, along with a full time job among their ranks.

Sarah had no idea they would be using children. She had practically been lied to. It was just wrong. She could possibly understand using adolescents, but CHILDREN?!

And to make it worse, until yesterday, many of the trainers were allowed, if not encouraged, to be highly abusive to their charges. Now that most of those trainers had been removed, the assistant trainers were required to take their places. Permanently.

Sarah picked up four blue folders she had been given the night before off of her small bedside table. They contained relevant information and psyche profiles compiled during the past week of the children within her team. She figured she should get a little more familiar with her charges before working with them.

Sarah looked over the one on top first, labeled Blue One.

The name of this child was Sarik Ostheim. Eight years old, excellent physic for his age, and a mental prodigy. He was by no means socially incompetent, but he had a hard time making attachments, as he seemed to be somewhat distant to most of his teammates during his first week at the facility. Those he did make, however, he seemed to hold onto almost obsessively, such as his apparent relationship with a particular girl in his team. Regardless of this, he tended to get along with others when required to interact, and testing showed that he had the potential to become an excellent strategist. He was one recommendation for team leader after the children completed their training in a few years.

Sarah was puzzled when she looked over his genetic type, marked "Inconclusive", but she simply noted it before moving on to the folder marked Blue Two.

Her name was Stella Loussier. Six years old, average physic, well above average intelligence. The notes showed her to be potentially unstable mentally, but after reading further, Sarah was able to empathize her circumstances. Stella's file showed a history of exposure to abuse and violence that had lead to the deaths of fellow children in two of the three orphanages that she had spent the last two years of her life in. When she was unable to adapt to a stable environment, Blue Cosmos moved in quietly and "acquired" her. No one missed her, apparently, as missing person's reports weren't filed until a month after her disappearance. She had shown some improvement here in the facility, especially during her week with Blue Team, but she still was still not as settled in as the others.

Next was Blue Three.

Grey Malik. Ten years old, decent physic, extremely high mental potential. Mentally stable, socially competent, made friends quickly. Spent his life in orphanages, including a Blue Cosmos run facility prior to his transfer here. He was recommended for team leader by several of the psychologists. Sarah wished she had been among the psychologists writing these reports, as Grey seemed almost perfect, which in Sarah's opinion, meant something, or many things, were being overlooked. But, she set her personal biases aside, because it was her intentions to follow anything that the facility's assigned doctors suggested.

One more was left. Blue Four.

His name was Alexander Nasser. Seven years old, excellent physical condition, had above average mental potential. He apparently could think well on his feet and had above average reflexes. He wasn't mentally unstable, but he proved to be extremely defiant and mouthy, ESPECIALLY for his age. He managed to get into fights regularly in two different schools back at his old home.

_Yet another challenge, _Sarah thought gloomily.

She looked at the time and realized she was nearly late to wake up her team. Sarah quickly dressed in the gray sweatpants and the blue colored t-shirt that she was expected to wear for physical training, then stumbled out of her room, running down the hallways of the facility towards the cells.

When Sarah arrived at the cells, she had to present her I.D. in order to enter the sealed off section. Once it was verified, she was required to enter into a room similar to an airlock, where the door behind her sealed shut before the one in front of her opened.

_Tight security for kids,_ Sarah remarked to herself.

The young woman walked through the door, where she had to present her I.D. to a guard once more. He was useful enough to point out the cells where her charges slept.

Sarah walked up to the cell where Sarik slept, typed in her personal code on the keypad beside the door, then waited as the door cycled and opened silently.

Sarah strolled in and blew her whistle at the sleeping and unsuspecting Sarik.

**_* * *  
_**

Sarik set his tray of food down on the table as he sat down next to Stella and yawned.

All of the children in the cafeteria were showing signs of fatigue, yet it was only nine o'clock in the morning. The past week's physical conditioning had been hard on them all. Nearly two dozen teams had been eliminated as a result, with a couple of close calls for Blue Team.

"What's with you guys this morning?" Grey asked with a hint of enthusiasm.

"Tired," Sarik replied.

"Homesick?"

"Nope," Sarik said.

"So, are we going to pull it off today?" Alex asked.

"Shhh," Grey whispered at Alex. "They could be listening. Keep it down."

Everyone remained silent for a moment.

"So, are you guys ready?" Grey asked quietly.

"I am," Sarik answered.

"Been ready," Alex replied arrogantly.

Stella remained silent, staring off into the distance.

"Stella?" Grey said to get her attention.

Stella's head snapped forward.

"Ya," she replied.

"Alright," Grey said. "Here we go."

**_* * *  
_**

The plan was supposedly simple. Alex and Grey would start some commotion and get the staff's attention for a short time. While this was going on, Sarik and Stella would sneak out of the cafeteria and search the nearest rooms for something that could cut fence wire.

The only thing that they didn't count on was all of the extra guards. Time was of the essence now.

Sarik and Stella waited quite anxiously at one of the back tables near the cafeteria exit. Waiting, waiting...

"Ow!" someone yelled.

Looking back, Sarik spotted that Alex had just picked a fight with a large boy who looked to be about ten years old. He had walked up to him and quite intentionally smashed his tray full of food into the elder child's face.

As the boy was about to retaliate against Alex, food started flying all over the place from a single source.

Grey, of course.

A chain reaction started, and within seconds, a full fledged food fight was in progress. Somehow, it had really worked. Sarik was impressed.

Sarik looked back as he heard the guards running into the fray, leaving the entrance completely unguarded. He tapped Stella on the shoulder, then grabbed her hand and ran.

**_* * *  
_**

_This is not good. This is not good. They're going to kill me!  
_

The security officer was busy typing into his console, rerouting guards to the cafeteria. This wouldn't have been able to happen if the facility wasn't so disorganized.

_Shit, have to inform the director, or I WILL be dead.  
_

He typed a quick message, attaching a camera bank location, and mailed it to the director's secretary.

Like his counterpart at the other end of the facility, this security officer had a bad habit of getting too caught up in what he was doing to notice some run-away children on another monitor, this time moving from room to room, committing an unknown deed within.

**_* * *  
_**

_Still aren't back, _thought young Alex, who was now covered in eggs, oatmeal, and other sticky substances.

The cafeteria was running low on food, most of it now disintegrated into portions too small to throw or even pick up.

He grabbed a fork from the nearest table and threw it.

**_* * *  
_**

"What the hell?!" yelled the security officer to no one in particular.

In the last five seconds, silverware had started flying. The food fight had just turned dangerous.

He started typing to the security teams again, informing them that protection was required.

**_* * *  
_**

With Alex's help, Grey had pushed over a wheeled serving tray from the cafeteria's bar, which they were both hiding behind to prevent injury.

_Where are they? _Grey thought.

"Where did you get the idea to throw FORKS?" he yelled at Alex.

Alex simply shrugged and smiled.

A fork came flying over the tray, landing next to Grey and scratching the floor. Knives and spoons soon followed. Grey wondered where they had got the knives from, to begin with.

_Hurry up, hurry up...  
_

_*** * ***  
_

Sarik and Stella ran down the halls as fast as their little bodies could.

"There!" exclaimed Sarik, who spotted the now closed cafeteria doors.

He cracked it open, letting Stella enter before sliding in behind her. Inside, it was a mess.

Sarik ducked as he realized the other kids were throwing silverware at each other while the guards were running around trying to incapacitate them before they could hurt each other. The children quickly caught onto this, and it soon became a war of the children versus the guards.

Sarik pulled Stella to the edge of the room, making sure they stayed out of the middle of the fight. As they were sneaking along, however, a guard spotted them. In his frenzy, he charged them with his tong fe.

Sarik pushed Stella away as they man neared, forcing her just outside of his reach. The man smacked Sarik across the face with his tong fe, knocking him to the ground. When he landed, he saw Stella running, carrying away their precious cargo.

The man bent down and tightened plastic cuffs around Sarik's wrists, completely immobilizing his arms behind his back.

_Not again,_ Sarik thought.

**_* * *  
_**

Stella ran past children, guards, and silverware, trying to avoid getting hit by any of them. She couldn't find Grey or Alex anywhere.

"Over here!" she heard someone shout.

She looked to her right and spotted Alex and Grey. They were beckoning to her from behind an overturned serving tray. Stella ran over to them, taking cover behind the makeshift barricade just as a wave of silverware flew by.

"Did you find anything?" Grey asked her.

She dumped in front of them a few knives of various designs, a pair of scissors, and two sets of objects that looked like large, sharpened pliers.

"Wire cutters," remarked Grey. "These should work. Now, how to get them to our rooms..."

"Hey guys, one of the guards is running over here!" Alex yelled to them.

"Stella, you have to get those back to our rooms somehow!" Grey told her. "Get them to Sarik. He can figure it out."

Stella gathered the cutters and carefully but quickly placed them in her pants while Grey and Alex hid the other tools beside the serving tray.

The guard, completely covered in food, jumped over the tray and landed beside the children as another wave of silverware flew by.

"You kids don't move!" he yelled at them while ducking down behind the tray.

**_* * *  
_**

"Who started this?" William asked his secretary, completely enraged.

"We don't know yet, but all of the children seemed to have participated," she replied. "I think that disciplinary measures should be taken against ALL of them, regardless of who started it."

"Agreed," said William. "Inform cell blocks B and C to prepare for massive lockup."

The secretary pulled a headset from her pocket, changed the channel, and informed the appropriate supervisors.

"Done," she informed William.

They were almost to the cafeteria, where nearly fifty armored and masked security guards waited with glass shields, pepper spray, and tear gas grenades. This was absolutely ridiculous. The first week, and they were already calling in the riot unit.

"Commander, you have permission to use all forms of force at your disposal," he informed the officer in charge.

"Division one, you have point," the guard commander informed.

Twenty men lined up in columns of ten against the cafeteria doors. The two line leaders glanced at each other, nodded their heads, then charged in, lobbing tear gas grenades into the mob of children. After their grenades were expended, they pulled out cans of pepper spray or tong fes to engage the out-of-control children at close range.

Soon after, the remaining thirty men rushed in and helped to subdue the children. It was over in minutes. The security guards lead hundreds of cuffed children outside to the track area.

**_* * *  
_**

"Casualty reports?" William inquired of the guard commander, who had remained behind.

"Thirty," he replied. "Twenty-eight children injured, two security guards injured."

"How badly were the guards hurt?" William inquired.

"One broke an ankle while attempting to round up the children. The other tripped and cracked his head pretty bad. All of the children were injured by the guards. Broken bones, organ damage, the works. One of the paramedics informed me two may not make it."

"Then have those children and their teams eliminated," William told him.

"Sir, is that right?" the commander asked.

"My word here is law, and it is not to be questioned if you value your job and title within Blue Cosmos," William threatened.

The commander let out a most audible "hmph" and walked off.

William let out a deep sigh.

"Are the children ready?" he asked his secretary.

"They should be," she answered.

**_* * *  
_**

Sarik waited in line on the large track with the other children. Today, the sun was glaring, thus the pavement was radiating heat unlike any other.

William walked out of the facility, this time followed only by a single woman. He looked like he was going to give another one of his speeches.

"So this is how it is?" he asked the children, like a parent his child. "Why do you do this? Do you truly desire punishment?"

Everyone remained silent.

"You have forced me to make a decision on this matter. I was going to give you more time to settle in, but obviously, this was too lenient of me. For the rest of the day, every single one of you will be in a cell. All day, all night. Then tomorrow, the gloves come off. Your real training will begin."

Then he simply strolled back to the facility.

Most of the children didn't know what to think. The younger ones didn't understand what they did wrong, and the older ones didn't know what was to come.

Sarik, however, had a feeling this speech was partially for him, and that all his problems had just compounded.

**_* * *  
_**

_Sleep._ That's all she did. Sleep. It passed the time quickly, and it would help prepare her for tonight.

Stella heard a thud and jerked her head up, fully alert. The escape ladder Sarik had found was hanging into her cell. She stretched a little, then climbed up.

"Grey told me on the way here you have something that can cut the fence," Sarik said.

"Yep," Stella replied, showing him the wire cutters that they had found in a custodian's closet.

Sarik gathered up the ladder and ran over to the fence, followed by Stella. She took her cutters and was about to start snipping at the fence when Sarik stopped her.

"Wait," he said.

"What?" Stella asked.

"If we cut this right, we can hide the hole we're making," Sarik informed her.

So during the next few minutes, Sarik and Stella cut into the fence carefully under his instruction. After Sarik had tested his idea and was satisfied, he had Stella walk through while he gathered up the ladder.

Once they were both on the other side, Sarik replaced the fence and they went about finding Grey's and Alex's cells.

**_* * *  
_**

The security guard was, once again, watching local television rather than putting his attention into the cameras. Tonight, the news was reporting on the rising tensions between Naturals and Coordinators after a terrorist attack in the Atlantic Federation. Even more Coordinators had started re-locating out to the space colonies.

_Good, _he thought haughtily.

When the news took a commercial break, the security guard decided to quickly scan of all his cameras. He was about to go back to watching television when he spotted movement. Focusing the main monitor on that camera, he saw something that he couldn't believe.

Two of the children were lowering a ladder into a cell.

Without hesitation, he hit the alarm switch and quickly went about directing the security forces to his section of the installation.

**_* * *  
_**

Alex had just finished climbing out when a loud, blaring alarm sounded off.

Sarik, invigorated by a sudden burst of adrenaline, yanked the escape ladder out of the cell in seconds and dumped it down into Grey's cell. Grey, who knew more than anyone what the alarm meant, scurried up the ladder at record pace.

"We gotta run!" Grey yelled, not wishing to fail this escape as he had at his last home.

Sarik lead the group, running straight into and through the hidden hole in the fence he and Stella had made, nicking himself on razor wire as he did. They arrived at the fence encircling the storage yard and started cutting with the wire cutters. In less than a minute, they were through.

As the young children entered into unfamiliar territory, they heard several sets of footsteps approaching their location.

"Hide over there!" Sarik told them quietly, pointing at a vehicle parked several meters across from the storage yard.

They all sprinted towards it and managed to get under it before the guards were in view, but just barely. The footsteps stopped, and Sarik could hear talking nearby. But suddenly, they started again, and much faster this time.

They were growing closer.

"Get out and run!" Grey whispered to them, who happened to be the last one under.

The four rolled out from underneath the vehicle on its opposing side and bolted. The general area they appeared to be in was a storage location for vehicles and equipment. There were trucks, construction vehicles, mixers, giant cranes, and many other machines useful for constructing military-grade structures.

The four kept running until Stella spotted a dome shaped building. She veered towards it, the group following her, not arguing any ideas at this point.

Sarik ran ahead of her and pulled open the nearest door, making sure everyone else was in before he quietly shut it.

The inside was dark, with only a single light illuminating a large, metal vehicle in its center. Sarik recognized this vehicle to be a tank.

"We need to hide," Grey stated.

"Why not that tank?" Sarik suggested.

"First place they'll look," Grey replied.

"I bet they won't check it," Alex remarked.

"Why not?" Grey asked.

"If it's the first place they would look, it's the last place they would check," Alex explained.

Sarik heard footsteps, much lighter now.

"They're coming," he whispered.

"I don't hear anything," Grey replied.

Sarik ignored him and ran to the tank, Stella blindly following behind.

"Better than nothing," Grey grumbled before running after them.

**_* * *  
_**

The guard stepped lightly on the earth beneath him, making almost no sound. He had heard the children come this way, so he diverted his unit to search for them. He could find no footprints, but common sense dictated that he search the vehicle hangar looming in front of him. He signaled for his men to move forward. He reached the door to the hangar and silently opened it.

From what he could observe, the edges were dark, so he moved silently to one side of the door and directed his unit with hand signals, keeping them in the shadows. However, the last man clumsily slammed the door shut, causing far more noise than the patrol leader would have preferred.

Their cover being blown, the security officer directed his men to do a quick, thorough search of the hangar. After a few moments, the search was finished, and not a single trace of the children were found.

But no one had checked the tank.

_They're not going to be there,_ he dismissed.

He decided to check anyway. The commander walked over beside the tank and shined his light underneath the treads, exposing nothing but concrete flooring.

The patrol leader quickly wrapped up the search and lead his men out of the hangar to search elsewhere.

**_* * *  
_**

"At least you were right about this being the LAST place they'd check," Grey remarked, rubbing his sore arms.

When Sarik had heard one of the guards walking towards the tank, he had everyone climb up into the tank's internals. They were barely able to hold on for as long as they did because of the pain that their irregular positions brought.

"What do we do now?" Sarik asked Grey.

"Don't know," he replied. "The first time I tried to break out, I got caught and sent here."

"Nice of you to remind us," Alex remarked arrogantly.

Grey replied with a "hmph" and turned his back to them.

"Maybe we could use that," Stella suggested, pointing at the tank.

"Can you drive it?" Grey asked her.

"No," she replied sadly.

"Who's going to stop us?" Sarik asked Grey, hopping up onto it's armored chassis.

"We're not supposed to..."

Sarik glared at him.

"All right, but we have to figure out how it works first," Grey informed them. "And hope we don't die."

"Give me a try," Sarik said with a smirk.

**_* * *  
_**

_Where are they?  
_

The base commander was checking all of the monitors with his team from the facility's control room, trying to locate the escapees. The last time he saw them, they were cutting their way out of the base's main equipment storage yard.

Suddenly, alarms started going off, and the main screen automatically zeroed in on a vehicle hangar. A vehicle hangar with its front and back walls missing, and a tank steaming out of it.

"These brats can drive tanks?!" he yelled to no one in particular. "What are they teaching kids these days?"

The tank surged forward, forcing its way over a now downed tree and ramming into a building as it tried to turn. The wall crumbled, but did little in the way of stopping the juggernaut.

"Get me a complete list of our available resources NOW!" the officer yelled to his subordinates.

**_* * *  
_**

It came so naturally to him. From the moment he touched these controls, he could just tell how the machine worked. The logical order, the markings. Everything about it seemed like de ja vu.

"What's this do?" Alex asked, forcing his way past Grey in the cramped compartment.

Sarik, already overexerting himself by trying to drive a tank designed for grown men, ignored him.

"Seriously, what's it do, genius?" Alex asked obnoxiously.

Everyone was slung forward as Sarik hit the tank's braking mechanism, preventing it from plowing completely through the building he'd just rammed into.

Sarik took advantage of the break to glance over at the object of Alex's interest, just to make sure it wasn't something important. Alex had jumped into a chair parallel to Sarik's. In front of it was a set of controls, and above it, a visor of some sort. He would be forced to stand up in the chair in order to look into it.

"Don't touch that!" Sarik yelled. "I think it works the guns."

"Cool," Alex remarked as he proceeded to look into the visor.

Before he could do anything stupid, Grey pulled Alex out of the chair and forced him to the back of the cramped control center, which was designed for two people, not four.

Sarik backed the tank up as quickly as he could, causing parts of wall to fall around the tank. He then forced the tank forward between the buildings, hoping to find a way out.

**_* * *  
_**

"How the hell did they get this far?!" William yelled as he walked towards the base's control center.

"We're still investigating, but the tank they commandeered has already severely damaged two buildings," William's secretary reported. "We still don't know how the children are piloting it, or what they intend to do with it."

William remained silent about his brother's special condition for fear of exposure.

"Have we mobilized any forces to capture them?" he asked.

"No sir," the secretary replied. "We only have six units of armor, and all of our crews were asleep in the barracks that the tank just totaled."

"Helicopters?" William inquired.

"We have two on the way, but they're configured for anti-infantry warfare. Light traps, machine guns, and countermeasures. We won't have anything anti-armor capable for at least fifteen minutes."

"And by then they could be well out of the base," William said.

"We're working with everything we have," his secretary informed him.

He sighed.

"I know," William assured her.

They walked into the small control room, which was in complete chaos.

"Sit rep!" William yelled.

"They're getting closer to the base perimeter," the commanding officer reported. "We estimate they will be able to force their way out within seven minutes, possibly sooner."

"Resources?" William asked.

"We have two choppers inbound, but they're not anti-armor material. We're also working on getting two tanks online and crewed."

"Good. Tell them to pursue, but no shooting," William ordered.

"Sir!" the officer acknowledged.

**_* * *  
_**

"Do you know where we're going?" Grey asked.

"I know we're going outward from where we were," Sarik answered in a frustrated tone, clenching his teeth.

He grazed another building as he made a sharp turn, causing a chunk of its wall to fall off.

"Smooth one," Alex remarked.

"Shut up!" Sarik and Grey yelled together.

Stella, who was trying to balance herself against the main console, noticed two red dots appear on a previously blank screen.

"Um," she murmured.

"What's wrong?" Sarik asked.

"I think I did something," she told him ashamedly.

Grey slid out of the seat he was guarding from Alex and shuffled over to Stella.

"You didn't do anything," Grey told her. "I think somebody's chasing us."

"How do you know that?" Sarik asked.

"This is the tank's radar," Grey answered.

"This is going to be fun," Sarik remarked sarcastically.

He made another turn, this time barely missing the buildings along his path.

Two more dots appeared on the screen.

"I take that back," Grey said. "We're being chased by FOUR someones, and the new ones are faster."

"Do you know what's chasing us?" Sarik asked.

"Can I see outside?" Grey replied with a hint of sarcasm.

"Try that," Sarik suggested, nodding at the weapons visor.

**_* * *  
_**

William watched data and video stream in on various screens, trying to find some pattern that he could exploit without harming the children. Both helicopters were hovering overhead, providing him with live feed of the escaping tank. By now, the two tanks piloted by his own men had caught up, both within firing range of the runner.

"What the hell?!" one of the operation room's operators yelled.

William was thinking the same thing as he watched the tank's turret rotate backwards.

"Tell our tank commanders they have permission to open fire!" William yelled, now caring more about the damage the children could cause than the children themselves.

**_* * *  
_**

"I see two tanks and a helicopter," Grey reported, finally getting a hang on the gun controls.

Suddenly, there was a large explosion next to the tank, causing it to shake like nothing else.

"They're firing at us?!" Alex yelled from the back of the compartment.

"No duh!" Sarik yelled, making a sharp turn and forcing his way between two buildings.

"Grey, can you fire?" Sarik asked desperately.

"If I can figure how it works," Grey replied.

"Try knocking a building over," Sarik told him.

Grey started pressing buttons and pulling triggers.

**_* * *  
_**

William watched as the tank forced its way between two buildings, causing the walls to collapse outward behind it.

The tank was now between the final wall blocking the childrens' escape and a line of buildings.

"What do those helicopters have on them?!" William asked in desperation, having forgotten in the panic that his secretary had already told him.

"Twelve point seven millimeter anti-infantry machine guns, anti-personal mine droppers, and anti-vehicular nail cylinders," the CO informed him.

"Would the nails work on tank treads?" William asked.

"Not outright, but maybe in combination with the mines?"

"Try anything to keep them from breaking out," William ordered.

Then, the escaping tank fired.

**_* * *  
_**

Grey watched through the visor as his shot fell short of the building he was aiming at, blasting a crater in the ground nearby.

"Guess I gotta aim a little more up..." he mumbled.

As Sarik swerved to avoid incoming shots from the tanks behind him, he noticed a tall tower-like building several stories high.

"Hit the tall one!" Sarik yelled.

"Which...oh."

Grey fired, hitting the building at the base and causing part of it to collapse outward, littering the path behind them with large chunks of debris. Soon after, the rest of the building fell over in the same direction.

Although the pursuing tanks were now moving far too slow to have any hope of keeping up, it didn't stop them from firing, which they did without discretion.

Sarik felt the tank begin to tip as a shot exploded near it. It took all of his new-found skill to keep it under control.

"Grey, what do you think is behind that wall?" Sarik questioned.

"I don't know," he replied.

"Why don't we blow it up?" Alex suggested.

Sarik smiled as he stopped the tank and turned it towards the wall.

"That's the only good idea you've had all day," Grey remarked, catching a confused look from Alex.

Grey opened fire on the wall, unleashing his assault as fast as the cannon's auto-loading mechanism would allow. After about ten shots, there was just enough clear space to force the tank through.

Sarik drove the tank forward as fast as he could make it move, clearing the rubble in seconds.

But just as they were clearing the debris, a helicopter dove down in front of the tank and dropped something. Sarik attempted to avoid it, but the tank's right tread ran over it, causing the objects to explode. Another helicopter swooped in after it and released something else as Sarik tried to press forward. After the tank ran over those objects, the right tread wouldn't move, and the tank's compartment started to grow hot.

Sarik stopped trying to force the tank forward and jumped out of the pilot's seat.

"Run!" he told everyone else.

Alex, closest to the hatch, popped it open and jumped up, then helped Stella to climb out. Sarik and Grey climbed out quickly behind them, trying to get away.

As they were getting off the tank, two spotlights lit up the four children.

"Don't move and we won't hurt you," someone said over the helicopter's speakers.

**_* * *  
_**

"Inform the pilots they're not to hurt the children under any circumstances!" William yelled.

"But aren't those four expendable?" the CO asked.

"No more than you," William replied in a threatening tone.

William watched the camera and let out a grunt of amusement as one of the children ran, soon followed by the others. His amusement vanished as the helicopters overshot the children and lost them as they ran into a field of cane.

"How soon will we have men out there?" William asked.

"They're boarding right now," one of the operators informed him.

**_* * *  
_**

Sarik sat completely still as he listened for the helicopters, trying to figure out where they were going.

"Let's go," he told Stella, Grey, and Alex as another passed over them.

Sarik walked slowly through the tall plants, hunched over so that his head couldn't be seen. A moment later, he heard the helicopters coming back.

"Get down!" he whispered.

The four fell onto their stomachs as one of the helicopters buzzed over the field about ten meters above them.

The helicopter's spotlight fell over the four, but the reeds were so thick that they weren't spotted by the pilot.

"Go," Sarik ordered.

For the next twenty minutes, they continued this routine until they reached the edge of the reeds.

When they stopped to hide at the field's edge, Sarik could hear men searching for them.

"Where can we go?" Sarik asked Grey, the most experienced in these types of situations.

"I don't know," he replied. "They had to have used trucks to catch up with us so fast, so we won't last long in the open."

Sarik looked around, searching for a way out. All that was in front of him was a set of cliffs. Water could be heard from the other side of them.

"There's only one way to go," Sarik remarked.

Before anyone could say anything to stop him, a helicopter passed over, and Sarik made a run for it.

He was soon followed by young Stella, and after her, Grey and Alex.

Sarik made it to the cliff's edge and saw nothing but water. After a moment, however, he noticed a small ledge at the cliff's base, right above the water. Hearing a helicopter circling around for another pass, he started to climb down the rock face, hoping to stay out of the spotlight by hanging off of the cliff's edge.

Everyone started to follow, but Stella, who started climbing last, was still partially exposed, and the spotlight from the patrolling helicopter passed over her.

Within seconds, the helicopter flying parallel to the cliff face, locating all four children with its spotlight, soon after accompanied by the second helicopter.

"Climb back up, NOW!" one of the pilots ordered over the helicopter's speakers.

When the children kept climbing down, one of the helicopters fired its machine guns a few meters below the children, spraying them with metal and stone fragments.

"I said climb back up, NOW. If you cannot, remain in place and we'll get you up from there."

The children remained frozen in place, but Grey soon persuaded them to keep going.

The helicopter pilot grew frustrated and strafed about two meters above the child highest up, who happened to be Stella. She was peppered with rock and metal fragments, some sticking in her skin. The blond-haired girl lost her grip and fell down the final ten meters into the ocean.

When the helicopter pilot realized what he had done, he and his wing man changed attention from the children on the cliff to the one in the water, scanning over the surface with their spotlights.

Sarik, who was only three meters from the bottom, let go and fell the rest of the way, landing on his feet on the not-so-wide ledge at the base.

He looked around for Stella, who had not resurfaced. Then, as if on cue, the younger child broke the surface twenty feet away from the ledge, apparently in deep water. By now, Grey and Alex had reached the ledge upon which Sarik stood.

"What should we do?" Sarik asked, looking around for a stick, a line, anything.

"We can't do anything," Grey replied. "We don't have anything that floats or to pull her in with."

Stella sank back under the water as she thrashed.

Sarik, having found no other alternative, dove into the water.

"What are you doing?!" Grey yelled to Sarik, who was unable to hear him from under the water.

Sarik swam after the sinking Stella, trying to get a hold on her before she sank too deep. When he finally got a grip on her, she grabbed onto him, trying in her thrashing to reach the surface. This caused Sarik to begin sinking, and he was already starting to feel a burning in his lungs.

Sarik's lungs were hurting so much that he almost passed out. They sank deeper and deeper. Stella had stopped thrashing, but her grip on him was adamant.

Suddenly, as he neared unconsciousness, Sarik received a burst of adrenaline for some unknown reason. Stronger than he ever had been before, he grabbed onto Stella and pulled her towards the surface. Sarik was about to pass out from suffocation and exhaustion when he and Stella finally broke the surface, right under the spotlights of the hovering helicopters.

Sarik pulled Stella to the ledge, where several men were waiting to apprehend them. They pulled both of the young children out of the water, laying them on the ledge to rest.

_Guess they were good for something, _were Sarik's thoughts as he remembered the swim lessons his parents forced him to take since he was five, though he had broken just about every rule that had been taught to him.

One of the men put his ear up to Stella's mouth and started to panic. He called two of the other men over and started doing something to Stella that looked to Sarik like kissing. When he was done doing that, another man listened to her mouth again.

The men were starting to despair after a few more tries when Stella's mouth opened on its own, and she started coughing out water.

Sarik didn't remember much more about what happened that night. He remembered riding in a vehicle of some sort, some voices talking, then blackness.

**_* * *  
_**

"How did they get out of their cells?" William asked.

"We're not sure how, but there were several indentions in Blue One's cell that we think he used to climb out," replied his secretary.

"What are the cell's dimensions?" William inquired.

"Sir?" his secretary asked, puzzled.

"Don't tell me you didn't have them take measurements of the cell," William remarked.

"We didn't think it was relevant. I'm sorry, sir."

"Just remember to get all the details next time and I'll forget about it," William told her.

"Yes, director," she complied. "Is there anything else you need tonight?"

"No, but thank you."

The secretary left William's office silently.

_Why?_ William thought. _Why? _

_*** * ***  
_

Sarik woke up in the infirmary on a hospital cot. Normally, a bed would be something that he didn't think about, but sleeping on a concrete floor for a week would get to anyone.

Sarik glanced around the room. It was small and compact, with everything crammed together. To his right, Stella was resting peacefully on another bed. He got tried to get up, but Sarik found himself bound down to the bed's metal frame by metal cuffs.

He waited, and nothing happened for a while. When he tried to fall back to sleep, he couldn't. After what felt like hours, Sarik heard a door open from somewhere outside of his view, and four men walked into the room. One of them unstrapped Sarik and rolled him onto the floor, knocking the wind out of him.

"Get up," the large man ordered, a guard, apparently.

Sarik caught his breath and jumped to his feet, doing it so quickly that one of the men struck him, causing him to fall back onto the ground.

"Don't even THINK about running," the man told Sarik.

Sarik got back up, much more slowly this time, and moved forward at the beckoning of the mens' pushes and shoves.

After ten minutes of pushing and shoving, Sarik was forced into a dark room. One of the men forced him into a chair, then left.

A few minutes later, the two other guards walked in with Stella in between them, who was wrapped in a blanket. After them came William, flanked by two more men, whom were pulling a struggling young girl with black hair. She looked to be a little older than Stella.

William strolled in with an arrogant air about him. He walked towards the back of the room where a small array of lights automatically activated, lighting a desk and a small area of flooring around it. William sat down in a hidden chair behind the wooden piece of furniture.

"Do you know why you're hear, Sarik?" William asked him.

"Because I'm in trouble," Sarik replied with a defiant tone.

William let out a grunt of contempt.

"You honestly don't realize what kind of trouble you've caused me, do you?" William questioned.

"I stole your tank," Sarik retorted.

"And you caused millions of dollars worth of destruction, injured dozens of people, nearly killed that girl!" William yelled.

"Do you know what kill means?" William asked sinisterly, having regained his composure.

"To make someone die," Sarik replied in a serious tone beyond his years.

"But do you REALLY know what it is? Have you ever seen someone die? Have you ever seen someone KILLED?"

"I know what die means," Sarik informed.

"And you know that a person is gone forever when they die, right?" William asked haughtily.

Sarik thought for a moment, a confused look on his face.

"But I thought..." he started.

"It doesn't matter what you think!" William interrupted. "When you die, your life is over! You are gone! Vanished! Oblivion!"

William rose out of his chair and walked in front of the the girl with black hair. Slowly and diliberately, he pulled a small gun out of his suit and aimed at her.

"Don't!" Sarik yelled.

The boy jumped out of his chair and charged William, but one Stella's guards ran over and held him.

The other grabbed Stella and held her in a submission position with his arm around her neck.

"Is this girl important to you?" William asked Sarik, motioning his gun at Stella.

"We're friends," Sarik answered.

William smiled, then in a blink, turned on the unknown girl and shot her in the head.

Stella started screaming and struggling, and Sarik let out an animal-like yell.

"If you EVER try to escape again, THAT will happen to her," William threatened. "The next time after that, it will be your other friends. Do you understand me?"

"Yes, sir," Sarik replied darkly.

William looked over Sarik one last time.

"Get them out of my sight," William ordered his men in disgust.

Sarik walked off with defiance in his posture as he was escorted back to the cells.

As he passed her, Sarik realized that Stella was crying her heart out as the guards forced her onto her feet.


	8. Chapter 7

**CE 74**

Sarik pulled the heavy sled forward, nearly exhausted to his limits. Despite the fact that he had dumped most of his equipment back at the lake, Sarik still had to pull Stella, in addition to some of the more necessary or antique pieces of equipment that he was unwilling to part with. For fourteen hours straight, the boy had forced himself forward through the dark and battering snow. His only breaks were to get sips of water, inject himself with powerful stimulants so that he could continue onward, and to occasionally sedate Stella when she began to grow restless.

By now, Sarik knew that he was not far from his home. He had just passed through the stone arch that marked the off-road entrance to his family's summer estate. That was located at the fence line. He knew he had only another mile or two before he reached the house itself.

With a grim attempt at enthusiasm, Sarik started to take another step forward, just to fall face first into the snow. When he finally came to a rest, he found it nearly impossible to move. Eventually, though, he motivated himself enough to get going, as it was the latest time of night, and hypothermia was an imminent danger. Crawling through the snow, Sarik propped himself on the sled and ripped open his medical kit.

Inside, all of his stimulants had run dry. Sarik had intentionally measured them so he would not be able to kill himself easily through overdose, accidental or otherwise. All that he had left was a small amount of pure adrenaline. He pulled out a sterile hypodermical and the bottle of adrenaline, then emptied the substance that remained, just barely filling the needle to the minimally safe amount of adrenaline.

After unzipping his coat and dry suit, Sarik stabbed the needle directly into his heart and injected the substance, providing him with a burst of power that he had only felt a few times in his life. After returning everything to its rightful place, Sarik pressed on, practically running through the snow.

Twenty minutes later, the young man was almost there. Sarik could see the automated lights located at the back end of the house flicker on. He blazed through the snow, literally running, the sled now only a mere inconvenience.

_There.  
_

He finally made it. Before him stood a relatively humble two story, four bedroom house. Most of his few good memories were from the summers that he spent here as a young child, at least before he had been taken by Blue Cosmos. Thanks to them, he didn't remember much from back then.

After taking a moment to catch his breath, Sarik walked beside the sled and felt Stella's neck for a pulse. It was there, and it was surprisingly steady. Wasting no time, he ran to the nearest door and unlocked it. Sarik had to force it open, as the hinges had frozen over during his week away. One good kick, however, and he was through.

Sarik ran back to the sled and delicately scooped Stella into his arms, who was still wrapped in the emergency blanket. He quickly carried her inside, where the air was still cool due to the fact that the power was turned off. Sarik set her on the couch in the front room, then ran down into the basement to turn on the house's power.

On his way back to the front room, Sarik glanced at the old fashioned grandfather clock that loomed in the foyer. It was nearly two in the morning.

After checking Stella's condition once more, Sarik left the front room and stumbled up the house's stairs, growing weaker as the adrenaline wore off. He walked down the short hallway to one of the bedrooms, one that he had not been inside of in a long time.

Sarik's mood was that of reverence as he entered into his late mother's room. Everything was exactly the way she had left it years before. The drawer left so slightly cracked open on her vanity, the small family portrait taped to her mirror, the bed sheets lain out perfectly.

Sarik strolled over to the closet and slid the door open. Inside, his late mother's belongings were stacked neatly on the many shelves that made up the space. Sarik removed a heavy blanket and a robe, which he lay out on the bed neatly.

Satisfied, Sarik returned downstairs and checked on Stella's condition. Her pulse was a little relaxed, but Sarik figured it was from the cold. Her breathing was still normal, but her sickly pale skin remained cold to the touch. He knew hypothermia was setting in. That had to be dealt with quickly. Sarik completely unwrapped her from the emergency blanket, the internal material soaked with moisture. After ensuring that he had a good grip on her, the Extended carried Stella up the stairs, a somewhat difficult feat now that the adrenaline had almost completely worn off.

As he arrived at his mother's room, Sarik was panting. As quickly as he could, he set Stella down onto the large bed. After taking a moment to catch his breath, he proceeded to remove the remains of Stella's soaked flight suit. Carefully cutting away at it with his knife, Stella was soon laying on the bed in nothing but the light clothing under her suit. This, too, was soaking wet.

Preserving her chastity as much as possible, Sarik changed Stella out of her clothes and into his mother's robe, irrationally embarrassed at himself. As he was changing her, he noticed she had an almost unnoticeable scar immediately above her stomach. There was no mistake about it. This was the girl he was searching for. A lifetime of debt could finally be paid.

After wrapping Stella in the fresh blanket, he proceeded down the stairs, through the front room, and into a office branching off of it. Sarik sat himself down into his father's large leather chair and proceeded to activate the comm unit.

He waved his hand over the desk and a single, paper-thin screen extended up out of it, a feature that was common in computers these days. On top of it sat a small, almost unnoticeable camera, rotating to keep its attention of Sarik's face.

"Call headquarters," Sarik ordered the computer. "Channel Sierra Sierra India niner zero two niner, level zero Encrypted. Direct to Doctor Walters."

"One moment please," a monotone woman's voice replied.

Sarik waited all but two minutes before a middle-aged man with shaggy blond hair appeared on the screen before him.

"Well, if it isn't the President," he remarked. "How's your hunting going, kid? We haven't heard from you in a week. Some of us were getting a little worried."

"I haven't been back in a week," Sarik replied emotionlessly.

"And you look it, too. Didn't take a razor?"

"I did, but you don't find much hot water in the Eurasian countryside mid-winter," Sarik informed bluntly.

"Understandable. So, whatcha needing?"

"I need someone with some medical know-how," Sarik told him.

"Run into a wolf?" Walters asked.

"No. I dove into a frozen lake."

"Ha ha, good one," Walters remarked sarcastically.

Sarik simply continued to stare, his facial expressions unchanging.

"You actually did it?!" the doctor exclaimed. "Don't tell me you went through with another one of your crazy dreams!"

"The girl was there," Sarik informed.

"It still doesn't justify...oh," the doctor started. "Are you sure she's the same one?"

"Yes," Sarik replied. "She has the scars that I gave her, among other things I would recognize. You can test her genetically when we get back, if it would comfort you."

"You know that she may not remember you? We just received that intelligence you wanted from Lodonia via our informant on the _Minerva_. It shows that Blue Cosmos's Extendeds may have had a few complete and dozens of selective memory wipes throughout their lives."

"I know," Sarik assured Walters. "I'm still recovering from the ones I received, as you already know."

"How is that going?" Walters asked in a concerned tone.

"It's getting a little better every day, but I still don't have it all back. Traveling out here is like de ja vu."

"I'm sorry there wasn't more we could do."

"What you did for me has been more than enough," Sarik assured him.

"No, it wasn't," Walters replied. "They had no right to impose such a thing upon a child, especially something so damaging. What I did was very little to repair the total damage."

"It's fine, doctor," Sarik said adamantly. "But it's time you help another in need."

"Alright. Do you still have that medical equipment?"

"Yes," Sarik replied.

"You know, I think that you may be getting a little paranoid," the doctor remarked jokingly.

"Order a weapons search on my room sometime," Sarik replied humorlessly. "You'll be convinced."

Walters let out a short laugh.

"Sync it up and I'll give the girl a look," he told Sarik, a smile still on his face as he shook his head.

Sarik removed a small device from one of his desk drawers, looking similar to an over-sized personal digital assistant. On it was a small camera, like that on his computer, and a small screen. Sarik waved his hand over the office computer, causing the screen to lower. Soon after, Walter's face appeared on the comm device.

"You know that Sarah's been worried about you, right?" Walters told him as he walked up the stairs.

"She always has," Sarik replied. "Let her know what's going on, if it'll make you feel better."

"I'll more or less have to once she finds out about this transmission," the doctor told Sarik. "Being your second in the corporation and everything...and my wife."

Sarik mentally smiled at how that relationship came about. If it wasn't for him, it was likely the two never would have met. Walters would be just another doctor in Eurasia, and Sarah would still be working for Blue Cosmos. However, Sarik thought they turned out to be perfect for each other, despite his initial objections in his youthful ignorance. A teacher paired with a doctor. Who could have guessed how good a match they would eventually turn out to be? At least one good thing came as a result of him.

Sarik moved into the top floor's main bathroom and opened the overly-furnished closet. Setting on the floor inside was a large case that weighed altogether about thirty kilograms. Sarik hauled it silently into his mother's room and began unpacking the contents. First, he set up a small transmitter in the closet so that he could send the equipment's readings all the way to SSI headquarters via the house's communications array. After that, he attached an electronic stethoscope to Stella's finger in order to keep constant readings on her condition. Then a thermometer, an IV, and even a basic brainwave scanner for kicks. After he was done, Sarik pulled out a small hand-held device that also looked like a PDA, accepting much smaller this time.

"You gonna scan her or what?" the doctor asked impatiently through the comm speakers.

The device contained a miniature X-ray machine and a limited MRI within, though any readings from it wouldn't be nearly as detailed as he could get out of its full-sized cousins.

"Starting with her head," Sarik reported after syncing the device.

He held the scanner half a meter above Stella's head, then slowly moved it over the other parts of her body. When he was done, a small map of Stella's internals was presented on the scanner.

"My God, what did you do to her?" Walters asked in astonishment.

"I gave her a triple dose of general anesthetics to keep her from killing me," Sarik replied in an slightly defensive tone. "What's wrong?"

"I don't know where to start," the doctor began in a rant. "Major concussion, skeletal damage, heavy bruising to her internal organs...she should be dead! Three times over!"

"She was," Sarik replied darkly.

"And you revived her on your own?"

"Yes," Sarik informed.

There was a moment of dark silence.

"Amazing," the doctor remarked. "But she would have to go through a maintenance process far more advanced than yours, if the Lodonia intel was correct."

"Four times more advanced," Sarik replied.

"What?" Walters asked, puzzled.

"It took four times the dose of the drug you developed to permanently revive her," Sarik answered.

"You could have killed her!" the older man exclaimed. "Your drugs, the triple dosage of anesthetics...Why the hell did you put her into anesthesia anyway? You know how dangerous it is to put someone with organ damage under anesthesia."

"I was unaware of her overall condition," Sarik responded calmly.

Sarik could hear Walters sigh.

"Well, you did good. Just don't knock her out anymore. Keep a mild sedative pumping, nothing too strong. She's in a lot of pain, even while unconscious, but the sooner she wakes up, the better."

"How soon can you have a medical evac out here?" Sarik asked.

"No earlier than twenty-four hours. We'll have to send one of our airborne carriers from the home base. Berlin HQ was destroyed with the city."

"Berlin is gone?!" Sarik exclaimed quietly.

"Most of it. And most of the entire population."

"Do we need to take shelter?!" Sarik asked, fearing some sort of nuclear attack.

"No. The weapon was purely conventional."

"How?" Sarik inquired.

Sarik heard something opening and voices in the background.

"We'll discuss everything when you arrive," Walters told him. "And I'll get that medivac moving right away."

"Send a military escort, too," Sarik told him. "I've got a sick feeling in my gut."

"Will do," the doctor complied.

"And please keep on eye on Stella," Sarik asked Walters. "Give me a call if her condition changes. I truly need to sleep."

"Okay," the doctor complied again, his tone indicating slight annoyance.

"Who was that?" Sarik could make out from one of the voices.

"Sarah, we need to talk," Sarik heard Walters say before signing off.

Sarik sighed, mostly at himself and his stupidity. Again, he had gone about making irrational decisions that could have endangered other's lives.

After his moment of moping, Sarik glanced at his watch. Nearly three in the morning. He had to get some sleep.

Sarik strolled down the hallway and into his room, which was literally memory lane for him. Stored here were his belongings from all stages of his life, ranging from children's toys to aircraft models to ancient weapon replicas.

After he took a moment to look around, Sarik changed out of his clothes and dressed in a robe, then strolled down the hallway into the bathroom. Ten minutes later, he was cleaned and shaven from the week's trek.

After slipping into a clean set of comfortable clothes, Sarik strolled back downstairs and went about putting everything away, albeit the fast and sloppy way. He placed the sled back into the shed, replaced the rifle back into its storage case in the utility room, not bothering to disassemble it, and refilled his med kit, which he also left in the utility room.

After ensuring the security systems were on, his defenses in place, and all of the doors and windows locked, Sarik lay down on his couch and quickly fell into a deep and much needed sleep.


	9. Chapter 8

CE 63

Sarik deftly blocked another kick, then retaliated with a punch, which was in turn blocked.

He didn't mind this foreplay. If he truly wanted to, he could take down his opponent in the same amount of time that it took to blink one's eyes. The longer the fight, the more interesting it became, at least in his opinion. During the past two months, Sarik had learned to stretch things out to avoid the fatal boredom that this place could bring.

Sarik's opponent let out a yell as she charged him, jabbing her fists at him with cat-like reflexes. This was followed by a kick, more punches, then a combination of kicks. The charade continued for another few minutes.

Sarik, starting to grow bored, began to fight more aggressively. His opponent threw out a wide, uncontrolled punch, which Sarik decided to use to his advantage.

Sarik grabbed his opponent's arm and moved in with a flat-handed blow into the back of her arm, stopping right as he hit the skin. The two remained immaculately still, the victor obvious.

"Finish it!" the hand-to-hand combat instructor yelled.

Sarik lowered his hand and loosened his grip on his opponent.

"If you can't finish it now, how do you expect to win a fight in a battle?" the instructor questioned. "Finish it!"

Sarik let out a "hmph" and pushed his opponent's arm, throwing her off balance. She fell flat onto her bottom.

"Everyone, class is over early today," the instructor informed his students with a hint of annoyance.

"You all right?" Sarik asked Stella as he extended his arm to assist her.

She nodded her head in the affirmative with a smile on her face before taking it.

Soon after, everyone began filing out of the room to rejoin their team instructors.

"Blue team, please wait here," the instructor told them. "I need to have a word with your instructor."

Upon hearing this, Sarah walked into the sparring room.

"Yes?" she asked.

"I would prefer to do so in private," the instructor told her.

"Wait outside," Sarah ordered Sarik, Stella, Grey, and Alex.

They quietly filed outside into the corridors and waited.

* * *

As soon as the last of the children filed out, Sarah closed and locked the door.

"Are we clean?" she whispered.

The instructor reached inside his shirt pocket and pulled out a small sphere. He pressed a button on its side and dropped it outside of the security camera's range.

"We have ten minutes," the instructor informed her.

"What's wrong, Edmund?" Sarah asked the older man. "I got your message earlier."

"Blue One is going to be taken away today after his next class," Edmund informed her.

"Why?" Sarah asked.

"To be used in a series of potentially fatal drug tests," he told her.

"What!" Sarah yelled.

"That's what I thought when I first heard," Edmund remarked.

Sarah held her hand to her forehead and sighed.

"Why?" she said with tears starting to fall down here face. "Why children? Why mine? What have we stooped down to?"

"I don't know, but I don't like it," Edmund said.

Sarah wiped her eyes, then regained her composure.

"There's more, isn't there?" Sarah asked coldly.

"Yes," Edmund answered. "In less than a month's time, most of the instructors will be given a leave of absence for two weeks before being reassigned to other positions within Blue Cosmos."

"What will happen afterwards?" Sarah asked, already suspecting the answer.

"The rest of the facility's children will be put through the procedures that Blue One is going to be used to develop," Edmund answered.

"Why Sarik?" Sarah asked.

"I have no proof, but I think he's a Coordinator," Edmund told her.

"What makes you think that?" Sarah asked curiously.

"Have you seen him fight?" Edmund asked her.

"Yes," Sarah answered. "He fights as well as the other children."

"He TOYS with them, Sarah," the instructor told her. "He plays around for a few minutes, then finishes them when he gets bored. Well, almost."

"What do you mean?" Sarah asked.

"I mean he won't ever follow through with a knockout," Edmund answered. "Everyone else will at least try."

"Who's his partner?" Sarah asked with a slight smirk.

"Blue Two," he replied.

"Stella," Sarah muttered. "Should have known. He would never hurt that girl for any reason."

"I see," the instructor said. "I should have known better."

"Is there anything we can do to stop this, or at least rescue some of the children?" Sarah asked.

Edmund glared at Sarah in a very serious matter.

"Are you willing to risk your position within Blue Cosmos for a bunch of brats?" he asked in all seriousness.

"Blue Cosmos progressively has stooped down to something far lower than I originally thought it to be," Sarah answered. "This organization, nor its ideals, have never been worth fighting for. Sarik is an obvious testament to me that Naturals and Coordinators can co-exist. I had always thought they were a bunch of arrogant, self-righteous bastards, but obviously, my experiences were a small part of the story. If raised correctly, I think they could be made to think of everyone as equals."

"Hey now, I never said Sarik was proven to be a Coordinator," Edmund told her. "Don't need to spout out your life's philosophies quite yet."

"You're willing to bet your life that he is who and what he is," Sarah remarked. "So I am willing to risk everything for those kids, even if it turns out to be the only good thing I do in my life."

"Then remember this well," Edmund told her. "Sarik's parents are Derick and Laura Ostheim, owners of the private corporation Silver Shield Incorporated. When you are sent on leave, I will have a man contact you involving the code words 'sea is black'. He will get you in contact with the Ostheims. You have to provide him with proof of what's going on here. If you can get him something solid, the parents should take care of the rest."

"Very well," Sarah acknowledged. "Got any suggestions?"

"A few pictures would be ample enough for me," Edmund said before he stomped on the jamming sphere, destroying it.

"Than you very much, I'll work on that," Sarah said before leaving.

* * *

Sarah thought long and hard as she escorted the children to their next training sessions.

She was by no means happy. The job description she had been given was very vague, mentioning nothing about young children nor the treatment they would receive.

She has initially dismissed it as necessary. The Coordinators were a growing threat, now forming their own government and military. Drastic times called for drastic measures.

But the recent revelations she had received were the final straw. The experiments to be performed on Sarik, then the procedures that would be performed on all of the other children as a result. And Sarik was a Coordinator. Why on Earth had they picked her?

But her thoughts grew mild when she thought about Sarik. If he was one of these 'awful' Coordinators, then how bad were the rest? Sure, the few she had experience with were very elitist, always looking down on her, getting away with anything, but maybe they weren't all like that. Maybe, she was WANTING to be the victim. Maybe under specific circumstances, they could raised to co-exist with Naturals on an equal standing.

But first, she had to get these children away from here, Natural or Coordinator. As many as she could.

Sarah snapped back to reality when she heard a voice calling for her.

"M'am, I have a message for you," informed a young security officer, now walking next to her.

"Yes?" Sarah acknowledged.

The young man handed her a small envelope, then walked back to his post.

Sarah ripped the envelope open, revealing a small note.

Sarah opened it and nearly cursed after seeing its contents.

_Dear Instructor,_

_Please take note that one of your charges, Blue One, also known as Sarik Ostheim, will be taken from his classes today for special assignment._

_Please do not be alarmed. He will be returned to you within two days' time to resume his training._

_Signed,_

_William Ostheim_

Sarah almost ripped the letter to shreds, but held her composure, folding the letter and placing it in one of her pockets.

She was furious. Edmund had been right about what was going on. What was TRULY going on.

Sarah snapped out of her thoughts again as she and her charges approached one of the facility's exits. She held the door open for the children, then followed them onto the firing range.

* * *

Sarik fired another shot with his pistol, hitting the head end of his target twenty meters away.

He had been shooting pistols for most of his stay and had become very efficient with them. The instructor had started him off with a .22 magnum semi-automatic, which was very accurate and had little recoil. Over time, he had progressed to the .45 he was firing now. Once, the instructor even let him try a .50 caliber pistol, but the recoil was so powerful that even when braced, Sarik was swept off of his feet.

Sarik fired the last two shots in his pistol, then ejected the clip and reloaded. This took time since he only had the single clip in his gun and a box of .45 caliber ammunition.

As Sarik was replacing the clip into his gun, the instructor ordered everyone to lay down their weapons. After it was deemed safe, the guards took the children's various pistols and replaced them with bulky assault rifles.

Sarik hated rifles. Sure, they were more accurate and a longer effective range than pistols, but they created a lot of recoil for someone his size, especially when fired in automatic.

But, Sarik sucked it up and slammed the rifle's clip into the gun, then turned off his safety and pulled the charge pin. When he was told to, he hoisted the rifle to his shoulder and began shooting at the now moving targets.

Five minutes later, hundreds of holographic targets were sent out onto the range and the children were told that they must destroy them all or they would receive time in the cells.

Sarik switched his fire mode to full automatic and unleashed a spray of bullets upon the targets, some which moved quickly, some slowly, some erratic, some even through each other.

When he exhausted his 60 round extended magazine, Sarik quickly ejected it and reloaded as fast as he could, then returned to the targets. There were only a few dozen, so Sarik switched back to semi-automatic and used his amazing marksmanship to destroy each with only one or two rounds.

Sarik was on his last three rounds when he heard someone down the line yell, "NO!"

One of the targets slipped by, beginning to move behind a bullet-proof back drop.

Sarik, being in the central section of the firing booths, aimed with inhuman speed in the general direction of the target, then unleashed his remaining rounds as fast as he could while still trying to be accurate. One barely grazed the target, causing part of it to shatter just as it became unreachable.

Sarik let out a sigh, then placed the heavy rifle on the table in front of him, his arms sore from the gun's weight and kick.

"Good job, everyone," the instructor complimented. "Everyone is dismissed except for Blue Team."

Sarik sighed and remained where he was as the guards came by and took up his equipment, expecting more trouble.

"You and your team are doing an excellent job," the marksman instructor told him.

"Thank you!" Sarik replied enthusiastically.

"You and Blue Four are exceptional," he said as the rest of the team approached.

"Alex?" Sarik asked.

"Yes?" Alex replied, not knowing what was going on.

"I guess," the instructor replied, not knowing the child's actual name.

"Oh," Alex said, realizing Sarik wasn't talking to him.

"How would you like to try something new?" the instructor asked the four.

"Like what?" Sarik asked.

The instructor nodded at one of the guards, who picked up a box and brought it over. Inside were four well-polished weapons that appeared to be a cross of a rifle and a pistol.

"These are called submachine guns," the instructor explained to the children. "They are powerful, like rifles, without the bulky size. They're useful for short to medium ranged combat."

Sarik looked over one of the guns, examining the design. It was a much smoother design than that of a rifle or a pistol, both which were very bulky weapons in shape.

"Can I see one?" Sarik asked.

"Everyone can," the instructor replied, smirking.

Stella, Grey, and Alex joined Sarik and they each picked up a submachine gun, testing its weight in their arms.

Sarik liked the feel of this gun. If the instructor was correct, he could easily reach something farther away, like with a rifle, but it wasn't so bulky and heavy that he had to struggle to hit his target.

"Would you like to shoot them?" the instructor asked the children.

The children's wide-eyed stares did all the talking. All of them had learned to enjoy target shooting.

The man let out a slight laugh, then handed them each a clip, which they then carried over to their booths and slammed into their new guns.

Sarik found the charge pin and cocked the gun, then waited for some targets to pop up. About forty meters away, a few dozen targets popped up.

"Same rules as last time, accepting the punishment," the instructor told them. "Go."

Sarik opened fire with semi-automatic, but soon found the gun wasn't quite as accurate as a rifle, wasting six rounds on two targets. He switched to automatic and held down his trigger.

Sarik yelled as the gun's recoil forced it up, continuing to fire. Sarik released the gun as it threatened to break his right wrist and fingers, falling down onto his back. The gun fell right above his head, the barrel pointed at him.

The instructor walked over and nudged the barrel in a safe direction, then carefully ejected the gun's clip and picked it up. Sarik got to his feat and looked down in shame.

"Good attempt," the man complimented. "Try again."

Sarik took the gun back and received another clip, which he quickly slammed into place. More targets popped up, and Sarik took them down with amazing efficiency, ready for the recoil this time.

"Amazing," the older man commented. "You shoot as well as a veteran marksman, Blue One."

"I really don't think..." Sarik started.

"Nonsense, you and your team are superb," the instructor declared. "You guys will have a bright future ahead of you."

Sarik looked around at his friends, and he couldn't help but feel a little uneasy. He didn't like the concept of this being training for the rest of his life.

"Now, you four are dismissed," the instructor said.

Sarik, Stella, Grey, and Alex jogged back towards the facility to rejoin Sarah, but one of the guards from the firing range caught up with Sarik and grabbed him on the shoulder.

"You're coming with me," the man told Sarik.

"Says who?" Sarik replied.

"Your instructor already knows," the man answered.

"All right, all right," Sarik complied.

* * *

Sarik followed the man to a part of the facility that he had never been before. And having lived there for two months, that was an honest surprise.

Eventually, Sarik and the guard walked up to an elevator guarded by four middle-aged looking men armed with heavy assault rifles and light machine guns. Their were no problems with them. The guard showed them his ID, and two of the armed men inserted their key cards into their slots at the same time, opening the elevator doors.

Sarik entered the elevator, which was easily large enough to hold a tank. He waited in boredom as the over-sized contraption took several minutes to descend to its destination.

When they finally stopped, Sarik stepped right off the elevator, which turned out to be a mistake.

His guard snatched him by the shirt and pulled him back just as a vault door slammed down and turned white hot. The door was so hot that the elevator quickly became as warm and dry as a desert.

After a couple of minutes, the vault door opened, blasting Sarik with a wave of dry, unbearably hot air.

"Someone got stuck in there once," the guard said. "Nothing is left of him now."

Sarik did his best to keep calm, but he knew if something was this well guarded, it had to important. In his situation, Sarik knew that to be bad.

After passing through another checkpoint, Sarik and his guard entered another elevator, which took even longer to arrive at its destination.

Sarik waited for the guard's approval before he got off this time, but exited the elevator with just as much enthusiasm.

On his way out, Sarik was grabbed by two large men, but not guards. They began to carry him forward, but Sarik fought back.

Sarik threw out one of his legs in front of the man on his right, tripping him. This knocked the other man off balance, which gave Sarik a chance to slip away.

As he ran back towards the elevator, Sarik heard a gunshot, then felt something painful hit him in the shoulder. He stopped in his tracks and looked over to find a hypodermic dart sticking out of it, the contents already injected.

Sarik fell down onto the ground and began to jerk like he was having a seizure. He couldn't control himself.

He spotted the guard standing over him with a smoking pistol before falling into oblivion.


	10. Chapter 9

**CE 74**

Sarik was abruptly woken by a loud banging noise. He rose up off of his couch and took a few seconds to stretch. After his vision leveled out, he glanced over at the clock hanging on the wall.

"Crap!" he yelled to no one, as it was already two in the afternoon, and he had yet to check up on Stella.

Suddenly, Sarik began to hear that noise again. It sounded like someone was at the front door.

_Who would come all the way out here?_ Sarik wondered.

As he approached the front door, he stopped in front of the large mirror that dominated the left wall of the foyer, trying to comb and pat his messy, overgrown hair into a presentable fashion before answering. As he opened the door, Sarik instantly sensed something awry, for in front of him stood two well built men in business suits.

"Is this the Ostheim residence?" one of them asked, a man who stood slightly shorter than Sarik with shoulder length black hair.

"Yes," Sarik replied coldly. "Is there any particular reason you're here?"

"May we come in?" the same man asked.

"For what reason?" Sarik questioned.

Obviously wanting to waste no time, both men presented cards imprinted with their identification and the seals of the Eurasian Military and the OMNI Enforcer. Sarik looked the men's identifications twice over, and they appeared to be completely authentic.

"It is a very serious matter of international security," the back haired man informed.

"Then feel free to come in," Sarik told them emotionlessly. "Is there anything I can get you?"

"Do you have coffee?" the other man asked, this one taller and much larger than Sarik, with military trim blond hair.

"Unfortunately, no," Sarik answered.

The black haired agent gave Sarik a smile which, in his life's of experience, he found extremely fake.

"Then water will be fine," he replied with a slightly warm tone.

_Who are you guys kidding?_ Sarik remarked mentally.

Sarik quickly lead the men into his kitchen and sat down at the table. He could have sworn he heard something upstairs, and he didn't need a government agency riding his back at the moment. He knew exactly what, or more specifically, whom, they were looking for.

"Please, sit," he suggested to the Eurasian agents from his relaxed position.

"Thank you," the black haired agent courtesied.

"Now, what can I do for you, Agent Stromwik?" Sarik inquired of the black haired man.

"It partially has to do with some of the recent events in Eurasia and your corporation's motives concerning them," he answered.

"I don't think I'm following," Sarik told him. "I've been gone for the past week."

"Very well," Stromwick said. "Let's start with the easy stuff. Is it true that SSI traffics parts and supplies to the ZAFT military?"

"Yes, but we do even more so with Eurasian and Atlantic Federations," Sarik answered. "And we only sell to government militaries during peacetime."

"Then why is it your corporation continues to sell its products to Orb?" Stromwik asked.

Sarik began slowly looking over the open dining room and kitchen, taking note of the immediate locations he had weapons concealed. A .45 caliber pistol behind a fake painting that he could easily punch through, a few well-sharpened throwing knives in the kitchen's wooden knife block, a .22 magnum pistol behind the glassware in the kitchen's cabinets, and a serrated combat knife with its sheath glued just underneath the table's edge, right where he sat.

_The twenty-two is my best bet, _Sarik thought. _Quick to kill, but makes almost no noise.  
_

Sarik rose from his seat and walked over towards the kitchen counter where the cupboard was located.

"I don't see the relevance or accuracy of your question," Sarik said as he pulled the glasses down from the cupboard, along with the pistol. "I ended sales to the Orb military within a month of the public declaration of their treaty with the Earth Alliance. I have no wish to support any nation's war machine during times of strife."

"So you make weapons of war, but when the fighting starts, you break all ties with those involved, yes?" Stromwik concluded.

"Yes," Sarik answered bluntly. "A people should have the means to defend themselves to any extent that they feel is necessary, but I do not approve of wars of aggression, especially the kind that have dominated the past few years."

"But they use these supposed defenses as weapons," Stromwik taunted. "Isn't that what you wish to avoid?"

"Is this all you came here to talk about?" Sarik questioned with more than a hint of annoyance on his voice. "I don't see how any of this is your business."

"No," Stromwik informed. "But I think my colleague is better informed on this matter."

After filling the glasses with water, Sarik returned to the table and handed the men their beverages. He had slipped his pistol deftly up his sleeve while they weren't looking, so he wouldn't be helpless if things went down hill.

"Mister Kaverus?" Sarik said.

"Are you aware of the events that happened recently in this area of Eurasia?" the large man asked Sarik.

"Somewhat," Sarik replied.

"We have reports of mobile suits spotted flying in this area," Kaverus informed. "ZAFT mobile suits. You wouldn't have by any chance spotted any, would you?"

"Maybe," Sarik replied with a hint of arrogance.

"Then maybe you saw a pilot?" the large man asked rhetorically.

"I think it's time for you to leave," Sarik told the agents calmly.

Stromwik smirked slightly.

"We have no wish to waste any more of your time," he said with a haughty tone. "But expect to hear back from us."

"My pleasure," Sarik replied sarcastically.

Sarik escorted the two back to the front door, and had just opened it when he heard footsteps from the stairs.

He turned around to find Stella standing there in fresh clothes and a knife in each hand.

* * *

_She was hurting. Someone had just cut her. But he was there. The caring blue eyes, staring deep into her own. Filled with sadness and regret.  
_

_"I'm sorry," he cried as he held her.  
_

A noise.

Stella sat straight up, as graceful and fast as a predatory cat.

She quickly glanced around where she lay. This place wasn't familiar. This wasn't her room.

Something was different, too. This robe wasn't hers. This bed wasn't hers. These weren't her sheets. She never had a mirror like that in her room. And these things attached to her. They definitely didn't belong. And the IV in her arm. It hadn't been there before.

Stella jumped out of the bed quickly and yanked all of the medical devices from her body, then quickly surveyed the area. There were three doors in this room, none of which she could determine where it lead. After deciding on one, Stella stalked over to the one a meter from the bed.

Inside were some shelves holding neatly folded blankets and towels. Dominating the left side was a rack from which hung several sets of clothes. She found a blue dress similar in fashion to one of her own back home and tried it on. It was a bit more cumbersome because of its more modest design, but it fit well.

Stella walked to another door and opened it. Inside was a small bathroom. She ransacked it quietly, finding nothing useful. She deduced that the last door would lead the the rest of the facility. She quietly opened it and crept down a hallway with wooden walls.

_Where am I? This isn't home. Where's Neo? Or Sting? Or...  
_

Stella couldn't recall the last name. She just remembered those crimson red eyes, full of love and caring.

The girl crept forward, silently opening another door. Inside was a large bathroom with someone's belongings sitting around. There was a single toothbrush, a single towel, a single razor. From this, she assumed that this facility was occupied by only a single permanent resident, probably a man.

Stella quietly searched through the individual's things and found what she was looking for. Just inside of the the medicine cabinet above the sink, she found up a combat knife that was well sharpened. She had sharpened her own knives many times before, and knew she was good at it. This person's work was almost as good as hers.

Stella vacated the bathroom and silently closed the door, then sneaked down the hallway until she came to another door immediately across from a staircase. She decided to explore the room so she might be able to understand her captor a little better. The blond cringed as she slowly moved the door ajar, its hinges producing a creaking sound that, to her, could have been heard from a mile away.

Inside was a bizarre collection of objects. There were toys fit for young children, models of some sort of aircraft hanging from the ceiling, and ancient weapons displayed on the wall. Stella crept over to the person's bed and examined the items lay out on it. There was a set of dirty clothing, a damaged jumpsuit of some sort, a large coat, and a sheath.

_But for what?_ she thought.

Something in her mind clicked, and Stella snatched up the sheath. It protected something familiar, something that was hers.

She pulled on the item's handle, and a long combat knife slid out. It WAS hers...no, it wasn't. There were markings on the hilt that she knew hers didn't have. But everything else was the same. The style, the construction, even the materials were identical. Stella carefully ran her hand across the blade, then suddenly clenched her hand into a fist. She slowly opened it, and a small drop of blood trickled out from her wound. This knife was at least as sharp as hers, too. Only a diamond-edged blade could cut her like that. She returned the knife to its sheath and kept it for herself. It might prove useful later on.

Stella silently stepped out into the hallway and closed the door behind her, cringing again at the creaking sounds the hinges made. She walked silently down the stairs, then froze as she heard voices. She couldn't quite make out what they were saying, as some drug from the drip line she had in her was making her groggy, but they were growing louder, getting closer. She continued to walk down the stairs, careful to make no sound at all.

Three men came into view, one of them apparently angry. As he opened the door, she took advantage of the sound to cover the rest of her descent.

Then he looked at her.

* * *

Sarik suddenly realized his mistake when the agents also glanced in the direction he was looking. As soon as they spotted Stella, they seemed to recognize her immediately and began reaching into their suits.

But before they had a chance to pull their weapons into view, Sarik exposed his pistol and put a pair of rounds into Stromwik's chest from mere centimeters away, then shoved the serrated knife that he had snatched from the under table into Kaverus's throat, not counting on the small caliber pistol to stop him.

Sarik glanced over at Stella just in time to catch her throwing a knife. His life flashed before his eyes as the weapon flew no more than a centimeter from his throat, right past him.

Less than a second later, he heard a scream and glanced out of the door. Kneeling there was another agent who had dropped his pistol, as a knife now protruded from his shoulder. Sarik made no hesitation in dispatching his foe with a single shot to the head.

The teenage boy thought it was over, but then he heard a car start. He darted outside to stop the driver, but as he exited the house, Sarik realized that there were four black cars parked along the road next to his home, one which was now puffing exhaust from its tailpipe. Sarik managed to snatch up his latest victim's sidearm and get off a few rounds at the vehicle before having to dive back inside his house to avoid a hail of 9mm and .45 caliber rounds.

Sarik slammed the front door shut and locked it down in every way that he could, knowing they were safe until the agents took it down. The house's windows were made to withstand grenade blasts, much less bullets or small rams. Only a high-caliber armor piercing round could get through them.

Sarik turned about only to finf himself with his own knife to his throat.

"Where am I?" Stella questioned in a slightly hysterical tone.

"You're safe, for now," Sarik told her.

The girl pressed the knife harder on Sarik's throat, causing a minuscule drop of blood to trickle down his throat.

"Where's Neo?" she asked with a softer but more serious tone on her voice.

"I don't know, but we can find him later," Sarik lied. He had no idea who she was talking about.

The force she was putting on the knife lessened to the point where she was barely touching Sarik's skin.

"Who are you?" Stella asked with a curious look on her face.

"Sarik Ostheim," he told her.

Stella's eyes widened, and she dropped the knife. She turned around and held the back of her head as if in pain. Then, as though it had never happened, she grabbed up the knife she dropped and turned back to Sarik.

"You're taking me home," Stella ordered him.

"I would if there weren't a dozen men outside trying to kill us," Sarik informed her, starting to fall into a crouch as he heard sounds of running.

"Weapons?" Stella inquired emotionlessly, falling into the same sort of trance that he did during battle.

"I have several hidden around," Sarik told her.

Before he could move on to retrieve his weapons, Sarik heard kicking on the door, then tackled Stella as he perceived the clicking of a gun's safety. A fraction of a second later, bullets penetrated the reinforced wood and embedded themselves into the walls and stairs.

"There's a painting in the room to our left," Sarik said as he rolled off of her. "Break through it and you'll find a gun."

Stella was on her feet and darting into the dining room faster than a crazed wild cat. She ripped the painting off the wall with one hand, revealing a .45 semi-automatic pistol.

"Follow me," Sarik told her as he fired his twenty-two at the holes in the door, moving backwards from the foyer and into the living room.

After ensuring things were going to stay quiet for a few seconds, Sarik moved over to his couch and threw the cushions off. He ripped through the lining underneath and tore at the stuffing inside, revealing a small twelve gauge shotgun.

Just as he filled the magazine with six of the twelve shells hidden with the gun, the door burst open, and a pistol-wielding agent charged in. Sarik pumped his shotgun and fired at the man's chest before he could have a chance to get Sarik or Stella in his sights. Less than a second later, the agent collapsed as lead shot tore through his body.

Stella fired three shots from her pistol, discouraging another agent from entering the house.

"Get to that door and open it!" Sarik yelled, motioning in the direction of the office.

As Stella moved along in a crouch, Sarik heard someone running along the edge of the house. He fired two shots into the wall, one blowing away drywall and insulation, the other wounding a man armed with his own shotgun, a breaching model, from what Sarik could tell during his glimpse of it.

After ensuring everything was clear, Sarik ran into his newly-opened office and retrieved the weapons he had hidden there. He tossed Stella a small submachine gun and kept the machine pistol for himself.

Sarik darted out of his office as he heard men rushing into the house. He fired his last three shells in the general direction of the door, then jumped back into the office.

"Help me flip the desk," Sarik ordered Stella.

She gave him a dirty look, but helped him break it from the floor and push it to the door. Sarik peeked out of the door and spotted an agent advancing into the house with a commando assault rifle. He quickly mowed the man down with a four round burst from his pistol.

"Close the door!" Sarik yelled as he jumped back from a hail of bullets.

Stella fired a burst from her weapon, then slammed it shut. Sarik then forced the desk the remaining meter to the portal. Voices could be heard from all over the house, and someone started hitting on the door.

"This way," he told Stella, grabbing her hand and pulling her over to one corner of the small office.

Sarik let go of his charge as he reached down and pulled at the edge of the carpet. It came loose with ease, revealing a metal trapdoor. Sarik lifted it open, revealing a short flight of stairs leading to a vault-like door.

"Panic room," Sarik informed her. "We can hole up in there for a few hours if we need to."

He gave her a motivational push, and Stella stepped down into the hidden stairwell. Sarik unloaded the rest of his pistol's rounds into the office door, then followed. He pulled the trapdoor shut and locked it from the inside.

"Go on, it's not locked," Sarik told Stella, who was waiting at the panic room's entrance.

She pulled open the large metal door, revealing what appeared to be a den of some sort. There were couches, cupboards, a computer, a television, and even a small door in the back that lead to a restroom. One could probably survive for weeks in this place.

Sarik sealed the large vault-style door behind him, then walked over to one of the couches and lazily lay down on it. After settling into a comfortable position, he tore a piece of cloth from his sleeve and wiped his face off, which was covered by a fair amount of sweat and blood spatter. It was his intention to make Stella more comfortable in his presence by acting overly relaxed, and perhaps a bit less intimidating once he was clean.

"Make yourself at home," he suggested, motioning at another couch. "We're going to be here for a while."

* * *

Stella stared warily at the man. Was this some sort of trick, or was he really giving her control?

After a moment, she decided that he was safe and sat on the couch. Stell sat her weapon on the ground in front of her, then crossed her arms and kept a close eye on Sarik.

* * *

The agent stepped over the bodies that littered the house as he walked towards the office. These losses here were unacceptable, and could only be offset if the girl was brought back. Alive.

He looked in disgust at the mangled bodies of his agents at the door. According to one of the survivors, the Ostheim boy had fired straight through the door with no possible way of knowing their locations. Two agents lost their lives because of it.

However, he quelled his thoughts as he stepped over the desk, into the office. Sitting in the corner were two men with plasma cutters, trying to break through a metal trapdoor, but their progress was sluggish. It would take hours at this rate.

"Forget it," the agent told his men. "Get the explosives."

* * *

Sarik never let his guard down the entire time. He was growing more and more agitated as the thumping noises above him grew progressively louder. They had been trying to blast their way in here for the past hour, and at this rate, it would only take them a couple more hours, if that. There was no way rescue would be here by then.

Sarik glanced over at Stella and noticed she was leaning into her couch's arm and breathing deeply, her arms still crossed, though she was grasping her shoulders with her hands now. She had fallen to sleep.

Sarik quietly stood and walked over to one a line of shelves that partially lined one of the small walls in the panic room. He removed a large, wool blanket, which he draped over Stella's small frame. She shuddered as the material made contact with her skin, but proved to be her only reaction.

Sarik took the time to truly look at her for a moment. He noticed for the first time how beautiful she was, especially in his mother's old dress. It grieved him that someone so beautiful, so innocent, had been forced into the world of warfare.

A moment later, Sarik diverted his gaze as a random, undesirable thought entered his mind. He was constantly told that these thoughts were perfectly normal for his age, but he didn't really understand them. As a result, disliked them, and strived to avoid them.

After a moment, Sarik lay back on the couch and continued to listen to the ever growing explosions. It wouldn't be long now.

* * *

_Two hours wasted,_ the agent thought. _We have to finish soon, or the whole point of the mission will be mute.  
_

"Sir, Observation reports that an unidentified craft just entered into Eurasian airspace through the Indian Ocean," an agent informed the man.

"How long until they get here?" he questioned.

"An hour, at most," the agent replied. "Within twenty minutes if they accelerate anymore."

"Dammit!" the man in charged yelled. "And we were almost through!"

He paced around the house for a moment, contemplating on what to do. If he didn't return with the girl, Lord Djibril would be extremely displeased, to say the least. And HE was the last person anyone wanted to piss off.

"How many more explosives do we have?" the man asked the agent following him.

"Plenty, I would think," he replied. "We just don't have the time to use them all."

"Oh, yes we do," the man told the agent, a smile forming on his face.

* * *

Sarik jumped to his feet as an explosion rocked the panic room. Stella was on her feet just as quickly, coking the action on her submachine gun even though her eyes had yet to fully open. Cold air was rushing in, which meant there was a breach in the panic room.

Sarik ran over to a small locker and began the process of opening it. The lock was mechanical, so he had to roll the dials on it until the numbers matched the access code. The lock clicked a few seconds later, and Sarik pulled a miniaturized assault rifle from within. It was one of the latest models to come from SSI's production lines, using an entirely new priming and propulsion system. Sarik just hoped the new ammunition was all that the techies made it out to be.

"We've got to get to the back room," Sarik informed Stella as he pulled the charge pin on his rifle, located just behind the action. "Run straight across the living room and you'll find the door."

He grabbed an extra magazine and a belt of grenades, then sprinted over to the door. However, Sarik was knocked to the ground a few seconds later when a set of explosives went off just above the sealed room, causing the ceiling to cave in. Frozen earth and snow flooded in to join the debris.

"You all right?" Sarik yelled at Stella as he threw wreckage off his body, his ears ringing.

She remained silent as she pulled her leg from a pile of light debris and dirt. She was unharmed except for a few scratches. Everything had slid to the back end of the room as th cieling caved in. Fate had dealt them a lucky hand, for once.

Sarik pulled the pin from one of his grenades, forced open the metal door, and tossed it up into his office. A second later, he heard an explosion accompanied by two screams, then the yells of other agents elsewhere in the house.

The young man charged up what remained of the stairs and barged into the front room. He opened up on two surprised agents, blue fire shooting out of end of the rifle's muzzle. Both men twitched with the hits as several bullets filled their bodies at a speed excess of fifteen hundred meters per second. They collapsed a couple seconds later, never to move again.

Stella ran past Sarik as one more agent moved in through what remained of the front door, sporting a large rifle of some sort at him. Sarik heard some sort of tone, and dove to the side just as the weapon fired. One of the rounds blew through his foreleg, barely missing the bone. Sarik fell down onto his good knee and returned fire in unison with Stella, tearing the man to shreds. Sarik began berating himself for wasting fifteen rounds on one target, but quickly stopped himself to spend time thinking on more important things.

Sarik tried to stand, but found himself very wobbly. He ran worse than a drunk man behind Stella towards the utility room, then dove in pain towards the right of the door as he entered. The action saved his life, as three marksman stationed outside of the house fired on him at once, penetrating the walls and floor with armor-piercing bullets.

Sarik looked at the other side of the room where Stella was. She stood with her back to the left wall opposite of the door, a line of blood seeping from the side of her face. Apparently, she had nearly taken a bullet, herself.

Sarik braced himself against the wall as he tried to stand. He was able to, though the pain was very distracting, to say the least. He replaced his assault rifle's nearly empty magazine with a fresh one, then grasped at his medical kit, which was on a shelf right next to him.

The kit fell to the floor, popping open and scattering a few of its contents onto the floor. Sarik pulled out a fresh bottle of adrenaline and a syringe, filling it with half of the maximum safe dosage, then injected the substance into his arm. He replaced the bottle into the kit and tossed the needle aside as he felt the stimulant flowing through him, strengthening him.

Sarik speed-limped over to the door, then poked his gun around the edge. He had equipped it with a magnified laser dot scope adjusted for accuracy at one hundred fifty meters before storing it in the panic room, in case he had fight at ranges exceeding one hundred meters. He just hoped that the snipers were within that range, or he wouldn't be able to do a thing about them, in his current state.

One was. He spotted the man running along a snow bank outside of the what was left of the house. Sarik fired a three round burst between the splinters that were once the house's walls, and the man dropped like a deer.

Sarik threw himself back towards the side wall as the other two snipers opened up, again filling the floor and walls with armor piercing rounds. Sarik was getting annoyed with them by this point, but he knew they had to go down before he and Stella could try their luck outside.

Sarik looked at the wall quickly, trying to calculate where one of the snipers based on the way the bullets had impacted the walls. They would be expecting the same move, and unfortunately, he would be repeating it, as he had only one other option, and he had no wish to die in this place.

Sarik ran into the living room and and dove behind one of the couches, waiting for the snipers to open up. They did, and the piece of furniture began to collapse under their combined fire. Sarik waited for nearly thirty seconds, hoping they would believe him dead. But then he jumped up and fired, nailing another sniper with only five rounds.

He watched the last one dive towards a snow bank. Sarik trained his rifle in the general direction, but ducked as three rounds flew through the snow towards him. He bolted back towards the utility room, still under fire, then fired towards the house's entrance as he heard someone advancing. Another agent joined his comrades on the floor.

The sniper opened up on Sarik again, cutting sizable chunks out of the wall. But suddenly, the firing stopped, and everything was silent. Dead silent.

Sarik prepared himself for another attack when a mans voice came over a voice amplifier.

"Mister Ostheim," said the agent speaking into the device. "What an honor it is to meet you again. You may not remember me, but I most certainly remember you, and I implore you to cease the pointless killing of my men and surrender the girl. We have no wish to harm either her or you. We simply want to take her home. We will give you two minutes to decide."

Sarik suddenly realized who these people were, and as a result, he recognized that voice. It was his personal guard from the Blue Cosmos facility.

Sarik started to raise his rifle to point at Stella, but froze as he realized he was too late. She already had her submachine gun pointed directly at his head.

"You don't want to go with them," he told her, but it was already too late. She was already in her battle trance, ready to shoot him if he so much as twitched.

"Do you know what they'll do to you?" Sarik asked her.

"Take me back to Neo," Stella replied emotionlessly.

"Are you sure?" Sarik questioned. "I've been taken by them before, and afterwards, I forgot everything. EVERYTHING. Then they made me kill. Made me kill my friends. They almost made me kill you."

Sarik watched her, and there was confusion in her eyes. She seemed like she was concentrating hard on something. Trying to remember anything of the sort.

Her eyes glanced off in another direction, and that's when Sarik made his move. He launched himself at Stella, knocking her gun aside before tackling her with his body's full weight, several rounds goin off before she lost her grip on the weapon. The small girl fell to the ground and hit her head on the floor. Stella remained unphased, so Sarik punched her across the face to finish it. Her head slumped to the side, and blood started to drip from her nose. Sarik let out a sob and wiped a tear out of his eye as he got off of her.

Sarik listened, and he could hear the commotion start up again. He scooped Stella into his arms and left his rifle, as it would be nothing but dead weight, though he did grab the belt of grenades. He would need those

He walked to the back door and, with a single, solid kick, completely dislodged it from the hinges. Sarik heard something start walking in his direction, so he ran for the largest pile of snow he could find, located among a small thicket of bushes, and dove into it on his back, trying to not hurt Stella anymore than he already had.

Sarik peeked out of the pile and spotted an agent walking towards the back door. He followed Sarik's tracks, but looked confused as they ended at the pile.

Then it suddenly dawned on the young man, and he started to pull his gun from his jacket.

"Get out where..." he started.

But before he could finish, Sarik threw himself out of the snow at the man. He came up with a flat-handed blow, hitting the man in the center of the throat. Sarik felt something break, and the man completely stopped breathing, not even a gasp leaving his mouth.

Sarik dragged the dying agent to his hiding place, then attempted to smear any evidence of what just transpired into the snow. He had just concealed himself in snow when two agents walked out of the demolished back door.

"Did you hear something?" one asked.

"No," the other answered.

"Whatever," the first one said, dismissing the noise.

Sarik was starting to stress over what to do when a loud roaring suddenly filled the air. He recognized the sound, and could feel his heart start pounding in his chest.

He scooped Stella up in his arms, then primed the smoke grenade he had on the belt. Still holding the canister, Sarik ran out into the open, towards the edge of his estate. The top of the grenade popped off, and red smoke quickly filled the air around him.

About thirty seconds later, one of the agents finally noticed Sarik, carrying their unconscious quarry.

"Take him down!" he yelled, but it was too late.

Two fighters came screeching in, firing their machine guns and particle beam cannons at the vehicles parked along the estate's drive. The agents had brought in reinforcements, and there were nearly a dozen cars, trucks, and ATVs setting around. Or what was left of them.

Sarik dropped Stella into the snow and fell down on top of her as the grand finale began. A large, plane-like airship opened up on the entire property, 75mm "Igelstellung" rounds tearing through trees, the house, and men alike. Thirty seconds later, no man but Sarik was left alive at the site of carnage.

Wasting no time, the injured man picked Stella up and started to carry her towards the edge of the property where they could board the ship, but he collapsed into the snow, which was now stained with dangerous amounts of blood. He had bled nearly two pints of the life-giving substance, and, as to be expected, wasn't holding up too well.

The edges of Sarik's vision were turning black as a helicopter finally landed. Four people jumped out before it was fully landed and ran over to where he lay. Two of them picked him up off the ground and carried him over to the vehicle, while a large man helped a women place Stella on a stretcher.

Once he was aboard the helicopter and strapped in, Sarik almost passed out. But he held on until he was sure Stella was aboard.

"She's an Extended," Sarik slurred to the medics.

"I know," he heard Sarah say. "I know. Now go to sleep."

_Life flashing before a dead man's eyes,_ Sarik thought before giving in to the darkness. There was no way that she was here.


	11. Chapter 10

**CE 63**

Sarik woke up in his bed, his head throbbing. Standing about his bed were Stella, Grey, Alex, and Sarah. His friends looked to be worried, but Sarah instead appeared to be sad.

Sarik tried to speak, but all that left his mouth was incoherent gibberish. He knew what he wanted to say, but for some reason, his body was unable to produce the sounds properly.

"Don't speak," Sarah told him. "You need to get your rest."

Sarik tried to argue the point, but all that he managed to get out was an incoherent grunt.

"How could they do this to you?" Sarah thought aloud, planting the palm of her right hand on her forehead.

Sarik, rather trying to speak this time, simply gave her a puzzled look.

"Don't you remember?" Sarah asked, catching on quickly.

Sarik tried to remember what had happened recently, but all that he could recall were flashes and fragments. When he tried to concentrate harder, the throbbing in his head increased in intensity. Sarik's focus broke as he grabbed his head, trying to keep himself from yelling in pain. He managed to reduce his expression to a low growling noise.

"Can you eat?" Sarah inquired after he calmed.

He hadn't put too much thought into food since he woke up, but now that Sarah brought it up, Sarik realized that he felt like he hadn't eaten in days. He nodded his head eagerly.

Sarah carried a tray of food over to Sarik's bed from a small table located near the entrance to the quarters. On it was some cold beef, a mixture of vegetables, a roll, and a small cup of fruit, a meal relatively nice when compared to the facility's norm. Sarik threw aside any and all manners as he consumed it, taking his final bite two minutes later.

"Are you alright?" Sarah questioned, concerned about the boy's ferocity.

Sarik shook his head no.

"Does it still hurt?" his mentor inquired.

Sarik nodded his head once.

"Would you like something to help with it?" Sarah questioned in a considerate tone.

Sarik nodded his head once more.

"Lay back," Sarah ordered him.

Sarik did as he was told while Sarah produced an autodermical from her pocket and pressed it to Sarik's arm, injecting the heavy anesthetics into his system. Sarik was sound asleep in seconds.

* * *

"Would someone mind watching him while the rest of us go to eat?" Sarah asked the children as she recapped the syringe.

"I will," Stella answered quietly.

Sarah glanced at the young girl with a concerned expression, but decided to not argue with the child. She would have preferred one of the boys to stay, but Stella had volunteered without hesitation, so she wouldn't step on her toes about it. This time.

"All right," Sarah agreed. "Everyone else, come with me."

* * *

Sarah walked silently down the hallway, Grey and Alex not far behind.

She had true concerns about what was going to happen. The woman had recently been informed, officially, that she would be sent out on leave pending reassignment to another area of the organization. Everything was happening just as Edmund had told her.

Sarah was not happy about this, to put it lightly. The Director's intentions for these children were obviously bad enough that he felt the instructors would get in the way. She was unwilling to allow anything to happen to the children, especially if Sarik was the example of what was to come.

However, Sarah allowed all thoughts to leave her mind as she entered the cafeteria. It was useless to brood on things that were unchangeable at the present time.

* * *

Sarik woke up, sweat rolling of his body. He felt as if he had been sleeping for days, the entire experience the most painful in his life.

Adrenaline was pumping into his system in inhuman amounts. As a result, he had a hard time interpreting what his senses were telling him. Every movement, every sound, ever smell was amplified ten times.

Sarik perceived a groan-like noise and instinctively leaped out of his bed, surveying his surroundings for any threats. He turned as he heard a loud sound from above. Something had jumped out of the top bunk. Sarik braced himself for any sort of impact and prepared his counter-attack.

The creature hit the floor gracefully, then moved slowly towards Sarik. It mumbled something, then walked closer. Threateningly.

Sarik lashed out in fear, trying to remove the threat. The creature put up appendages of some sort to block his attack, but he quickly overpowered it. The creature let out an agonizing scream as Sarik forced his way past its defenses and brought a blow down onto its head.

The creature began to whimper as it stumbled back towards the wall. Sarik continued to advance on it, throwing out powerful blows that it futilely blocked. Once it had its back to the wall, the creature slid down and tried to cover what of its body that it could with its arms. Sarik continued to pound on the creature, even when it started sobbing.

But something clicked in Sarik's mind. This crying was familiar. He had heard it before. Sarik suddenly realized the huge mistake he had just made.

His body began to calm, and his vision returned to normal as he snapped out of his frenzy. This wasn't some dangerous creature. It was Stella, curled up on the floor, trying to defend herself by protecting her head with her arms, which were now covered in large, purple bruises. She was crying like Sarik had heard only once before.

Sarik tried to approach her, but as he did, Stella balled up tighter, preparing for the next wave of his attacks.

"Stella..." he started, but found himself unable to finish.

Sarik felt tears fall down his face and realized he was crying, too. He moved to a corner in the opposite end of the room and held nothing back as he cried; angry, sad, and afraid.

* * *

Sarah ran back to the room as fast as she could, her charges not far behind. A security guard had informed her that he had heard yelling and screaming from Blue Team's room, but hadn't bothered investigating personally.

_How typical,_ Sarah thought. _Half the people around here are morons._

Sarah soon arrived at the room and walked into a mess. At opposing ends of the room, Sarik and Stella were both on the floor, crying like children half their age.

"What did you do to her?!" Sarah yelled at Sarik after seeing what he had done to Stella.

Sarah ran over to Stella, who balled up as she moved closer. Her nose and mouth were bleeding, her arms and face were covered in bruises, and many more injuries were probably hidden underneath her clothes.

"What did you do to her?!!" Sarah yelled as she turned to Sarik, louder this time.

"I-I-I'm s-sorry," Sarik stuttered in his sobs.

"Sorry?!" Sarah yelled angrily. "Sorry won't change anything! Now what the hell happened?!"

Sarik simply continued to cry.

Out of frustration and anger, Sarah backhanded him across the face. However, she quickly realized her mistake she made when his expression changed from sorrow to rage. Sarik uncurled and launched himself straight at her, bringing an arm up underneath her chin. Sarah was knocked down with the force of someone several years his senior.

Sarik leaped after Sarah, his intentions clear. He was going to finish her. He landed and brought his foot up to stomp down on her head. But as he brought his right leg up to its peak, she swept out her arm, knocking Sarik off of his feet. Before he could do more harm, Sarah kicked him in the head, dazing him, then forced him into a submission hold.

Before Sarah had come to this facility, she had received training on how to control violent convicts. She never thought she would have to use it at all after she arrived. She was now thankful for it as Sarik continued to struggle, his strength growing with his rage. He writhed and squirmed in Sarah's grip, almost forcing her to release him on a few occasions. But she held fast.

Nearly ten minutes later, Sarik calmed down and collapsed in unconscious in Sarah's arms.

* * *

"So what is your personal opinion on the enhancements?" William asked Sarah.

"I think they're dangerous," she replied calmly.

"That was the intent," William told her.

"Blue One attacked one of his friends," Sarah told him. "He never wouldn't have so much as touch a single hair on that girl's head before you 'modified' him. It seems when he's scared or enraged, he's unable to tell friend from foe. He simply fights."

"That can be dealt with," William informed her. "But I want to know of his power. What was it like?"

"When he was fighting, his strength was that of someone several years his senior," Sarah responded. "The doctor said that he even managed to bruise my jaw bone during our brief encounter. And his reflexes were amazing, even when compared to a Coordinator's."

"Do you think he could take on a Coordinator of the same age?" William inquired curiously.

"I have never seen a Coordinator in combat, but I would bet my money on Blue One in a heartbeat," Sarah answered.

"Interesting," William remarked quietly. "Thank you for your time, instructor. Your evaluation may very well affect things to come."

_Not if I can help it,_ Sarah mentally remarked.

* * *

Sarik lay on the bed, restrained by straps around his arms, legs, and head. He was unable to move any part of his body, thus he was unable observe what was going on in the room around him.

After a short period of boredom, Sarik heard someone walk in and felt his straps being unbuckled. After he was unhindered, he sat up and examined the person who released him. It was an old lady. So old, in fact, she could easily be his grandmother.

"Hello, Sarik," she greeted.

Sarik stared at her and remained silent.

"Now come on, we can't have you acting like that," she remarked.

Sarik remained silent for a few more seconds, then gained the bravery to speak.

"Who are you?" he questioned.

"I am Doctor Magner," she told Sarik.

"What are you doing here?" the young boy asked her.

"Why, letting you out, of course," Magner informed him. "But before you can leave, I need to ask you some questions. Is that all right?"

"All right," Sarik agreed, seing no alternative.

* * *

Sarah stalked silently down the hallways, dressed completely in black. It was nearly one o'clock in the morning, so no one was around to get in her way. Most of the lights were out, giving her freedom to move almost anywhere without detection.

Sarah was tired of being manipulated and lied to, just to be thrown out like some piece of trash. She was going to get her proof, then she was going to destroy this facility and anyone stupid enough to get in her way.

She was nearly at her destination, with only a single camera as an obstacle. Sarah sprinted past it, trying to leave as little time as possible to be spotted by the operator. Once she was safely by, Sarah stalked up to a door and quietly opened it. The facility was top of the line, which meant the doors were oiled down to the point of absolute silence. She slowly cracked the portal ajar, silently slipped in, and closed it softly behind her. Inside was a single man and a bank of monitors. He was apparently neglecting his duties, as the main monitor was set to a local news station.

Sarah slowly walked up behind the man, then grabbed his head and smashed it into the desk in front of him. She could hear a definite cracking noise as his skull made contact with the hard material. The decurity guard didn't struggle, so she assumed he was out cold.

After ensuring her gloves, mask, and clothing were on tight, as to prevent any genetic material from falling off into the room, Sarah strolled up to the main surveillance computer and inserted a small device into the data port. In seconds, she had all of the video material from the past six months at her disposal. Using the security station's computer, Sarah sifted through every bit that she knew to contain Sarik, including the escape attempt. She then went through the recordings from this evening and wrote over any trace of herself with blank pictures, then set the cameras to cycle through the same empty images for the next twenty minutes.

Sarah made sure everything was returned to its original position, then silently evacuated the camera room. She yanked her mask and gloves off, letting out a sigh of relief.

She almost had a heart attack a minute later when some one called her name from down the hall. It was the instructor of Red Team, who were doing exceptionally well in their training.

Neither of them were supposed to be out here at this time, and she couldn't risk a witnesses for any reason. Sarah slowly pulled a knife from it's place on her belt, then held it behind her back.

"What are you doing out here at a time like this?" the instructor asked her.

"I could ask the same about you," Sarah replied.

"Well, to be honest I couldn't sleep," he responded. "Figured I could get to know the facility better."

"Pretty much the same thing with me," Sarah said, thinking that she might actually get away with this.

"Why are you dressed in black?" the fellow instructor asked her.

Sarah gave him a mischievous stare.

"I figure it's easier to not get caught dressed like this," she replied.

"I see," the man said as he turned. "Farewell."

Sarah had almost convinced herself that she had talked her way out of the dicey situation when the man began running when he was a few meters away, towards the security station.

Sarah sprinted after him, knife poised to strike. The man had made the mistake of stopping in order to open the door to the surveillance room. His last mistake.

Sarah leaped at the man and stabbed the knife directly into his spine, while at the same time forcing her gloves and mask onto the wound, in order to prevent the blood spatter from making a mess. After shoving the weapon a little deeper into his neck and twisting, she quickly slid it out and checked the surrounding area. From what she could tell, there was nothing to indicate what had just happened.

Suddenly, Sarah began to actually realize what she had done, and began panicing. Somehow, she had to dispose of this body without leaving any evidence.

Not to mention it was the first time that Sarah had ever taken a life, a rarity among Blue Cosmos members. She didn't understand how she could have done such a thing on a mere whim. It truly scared her. But she had more important matters to deal with at the moment.

_The incinerator is on the other side of the facility,_ she thought wearily.

As she prepared to move the body, Sarah only hoped that things would work out in a way that she could get this information to the Ostheims. Even if, ultimately, the cost was her life.

* * *

"Well, Sarik, I think you're good to go," commented Doctor Magner. "Is there anything else we need to go over?"

"I don't think so," Sarik replied honestly.

"Then I'll have someone escort you to the infirmary," the Doctor said. "I think there's someone who wants to see you."

"Who?" Sarik asked.

"Why, Stella, of course," the woman informed.

"I don't think..." Sarik started.

"Nonsense," Magner interrupted. "I explained the situation to her before I came to get you, and she seemed to be very understanding. She's more worried than anything."

This caused Sarik to feel warm inside. He had hurt her so badly, a friend, and she still liked him. He hadn't expected her to forgive him so easily.

* * *

"So, we were successful?" William asked.

"Completely," Magner replied. "What Sarik described was without a doubt a Fugue State."

"But you said he managed to calm himself with sheer willpower before he killed the girl," William said. "Doesn't this mean his conditioning is incomplete?"

"No form of suggestion or drugs can create perfect programming, not artificially," informed Magner. "And he has no previous record of mental instability. Without something already existing to manipulate, it's a pain to implement programming of any sort."

"What of the other children in his group?" William asked.

"I can tell you two off the top of my head," Magner responded.

"Including his little girl friend," William said.

"You've done your homework Director," Magner remarked in an insulting tone. "For once."

William simply let out a "hmph", then walked to the door.

"I thank you for the time, Doctor," William courtesied. "You have authorization to use the entirety of Blue Team for your experiments. After testing them on Blue One, of course. And if you could make his conditioning a bit more...solid, it would help us proceed all the more easily."

"Of course, Director, and thank you," Magner also courtesied before leaving.

After holding the door for Doctor Magner, William returned to his desk and sat down in his over-sized leather chair. As he leaned back in it, he started laughing for no apparent reason.

_It was all worth it, _he thought in his frenzied state.


	12. Chapter 11

**CE 74**

Sarik awoke abruptly, unsure of where he was. All he could tell at the moment was that he was resting on a hospital cot located in some sort of cramped room. After giving himself time for the initial disorientation to pass, he realized that his leg hurt. A lot. Everything that happened during the past two days suddenly came flooding back to him all at once.

_Still must be aboard the _Ares_,_ he thought.

The _Ares_-class Atmospheric Carrier prototype. It was the only craft of its kind, a one hundred fifty meter long combat airship with a design very similar to a fighter. It was capable of transporting and launching a variety of vehicles, including fighters, helicopters, and mobile suits. If filled to its maximum capacity, it could carry a squadron of twelve fighter craft or three mobile suits, using on board storage racks.

Sarik rose up out of his bed, cringing in pain as he put pressure on his wounded leg, which was now contained within a cast. After disconnecting the various devices that were reading his vitals from his body, he slipped a pair of shoes on and limped out of the small compartment and into the ship's undersized infirmary.

Sarik was almost knocked over as the doctor and a nurse barreled into him trying to get to the room. Apparently, they had noticed the lack of any vital signs on the monitors and taken alarm.

"Sir, you shouldn't be up!" the doctor exclaimed.

"I'm fine," Sarik told him.

"I'm under orders to keep you here," the doctor informed Sarik.

"Were they mine?" Sarik asked.

"No, sir," the man replied.

"Then leave me be," Sarik ordered him in an irritated tone.

Sarik barged out of the infirmary, albeit painfully, and walked towards the front of the ship, where the bridge was located. He arrived there after less than a minute's worth of limping.

Sarik strolled in, unnoticed at first. Someone lazily looked back several seconds later after registering that the automatic doors had opened. He jumped in surprise when he saw Sarik.

"Captain on the bridge!" the man yelled.

Everyone except the pilot jumped to attention.

"At ease," Sarik ordered.

"Welcome back to the land of the living," greeted the man who noticed him, who was still standing.

"I told you military protocol is unnecessary, Commander," Sarik reminded him.

"Yes, sir," the bridge commander complied. "Old habits."

"I understand," Sarik assured him. "Carry on."

Sarik decided to observe the bridge crew for a while before leaving. They all supposedly served as crewman aboard an _Agamemnon_-class carrier for the Earth Alliance during the last war, but at the moment, the way they lay about certainly didn't look like it. There were only four men on the bridge, and Sarik knew that they were probably the only ones aboard. The pilot seemed to be the only one intent on his duties, manually flying the ship the entire time Sarik was there. The bridge commander had started reading something on the ship's computer, not paying much attention to the outside world. The CIC officer appeared to be trying to sleep, his chair leaned back and his eyes closed. The only weapons officer was intently skimming through some sort of magazine, its contents something Sarik could only guess at.

Before leaving, Sarik limped over to one of the empty stations to access the ship's GPS system. After calculating the distance they were from Orb airspace, he left the bridge to continue his search for Stella.

Sarik walked down the cramped hallways of the ship back towards the infirmary, figuring it was the best place to start. He searched the other two medical quarters, but he was unable to find any trace of Stella ever being there. After inquiring of the doctor of her whereabouts, he discovered she had been moved to elsewhere in the ship. According to the man, she seemed at least semi-conscious when she was moved, which was a good sign, considering what she had been through.

Sarik left the infirmary and went about exploring the ship. He knew that most of the carrier was dominated by its large launch bay in the aft, so his chances of getting lost were next to none.

He checked the main deck's quarters, only to find three pilots and the helicopter crew chatting or sleeping. After receiving a few confused stares, Sarik left quietly and descended to the ship's secondary deck via the only elevator, where the cramped galley and the officer's rooms were located.

After grabbing a quick snack from the galley, Sarik proceeded towards the quarters, which were only a few meters down the hall. There he found a pair of guards standing watch in front of one of the dwellings. Nine out of ten chances were that Stella was in that one.

As Sarik walked by them, he realized the guards were from his own personal unit. They were Coordinators that he had handpicked personally after his parents death as bodyguards and operatives. He knew each one was completely loyal, even to the extent of taking a bullet for him or those they were ordered to protect. So long as the ridiculously high sums of money kept flowing, anyway.

Sarik nodded his head in greeting as he limped by the men, both whom returned it with their own.

He continued into the Captain's quarters, which were dark due to the lack of light. Sarik felt around the wall for a switch, then turned on the lights. What he found surprised him.

Resting under a heavy blanket on the large bed dominating the center of the room was Stella, several IVs in her arm and still clothed in his mother's dress. Beside the bed was a large, comfortable looking chair in which Sarah was sleeping.

Sarik crept forward and found a chair for himself, quietly drug it over beside Sarah's, and collapsed into it, still exhausted from the past days' events.

Sarah stirred for a moment before waking up.

"Well, look who decided to join us," she remarked sleepily.

"Hi," Sarik greeted dryly.

"You should still be asleep," the woman told him.

"It's hard for me to sleep in the middle of the day," he replied.

"Well, where we're headed, it's about four in the morning," Sarah informed.

"I know," Sarik assured her.

"It'll be worth the jet lag when we get there," Sarah told him. "We have a lot of things to go over when we arrive."

"Like what?" Sarik asked.

"It's pointless to go over it right now," Sarah told him. "I'm not going to let you uselessly stress over it."

"Then what do you fell we can discuss?" Sarik questioned, irritated at Sarah's attempt to elude him.

"Who were those men?" she questioned. "Let's start with that."

"They claimed to have been with Eurasian Intelligence," Sarik informed her.

"But you don't think so," she stated. "Why?"

"Because I think they might be associated with my brother," he speculated. "They were lead by one of the former guards from the prototype facility."

"If that's the case, then we've just stirred a hornet's nest," Sarah remarked. "I used to be a member. I know how Blue Cosmos works."

"But what of this other organization?" Sarik asked her.

"Logos?" she said. "I didn't even know they existed until recently. They did a good job at keeping a low profile all of these years."

"And no one else knows about them, either," Sarik stated. "Which makes them the most dangerous opponents I've ever had to deal with."

"They wouldn't dare come after you," Sarah remarked. "I'm sure they know very well who you and I are, and what we're capable of now."

"But what about Stella?" Sarik asked.

"What about her?"

Sarik remained silent for a few minutes.

"They sent a small army just to find her," Sarik reminded her. "They would have been willing to kill anyone who came into contact with her. They're not through."

"I'd like to see them get to you or her when we get you two to headquarters," Sarah remarked.

"We can't stay holed up there forever," Sarik said. "Especially Stella. She may wish to leave, and I will not force her to do anything after she can take care of herself."

"Which we may not be able to do for a while," Sarah informed Sarik.

"Is it that bad?" he questioned.

An awkward silence filled the room for a moment.

"She has had multiple memory wipes, and it shows," Sarah informed Sarik.

"In what ways?" Sarik inquired.

"Well, first off, her maturity level is a few years behind that of someone who is nearly seventeen years old," Sarah told him.

"She seemed to me more than capable of taking care of herself," Sarik told Sarah. "And she had no trouble interacting with me, the short time that she did."

Sarah sighed.

"It's not that she's lacking in skills, even social, but she just seems, I don't know...out of it," Sarah told him. "Some things just aren't clicking. At times, she seems more like an impressionable adolescent rather than a young adult."

"Brainwashing and memory loss will do that to a person," Sarik reminded Sarah. "You have to remember me during the first couple of years after I was bailed out of that place. Helpless as an infant."

"I wouldn't say that," Sarah contradicted, her tone slightly humored. "You were more than capable of breaking my bones on multiple occasions."

"But outside of a sheltered confinement, I was unable to function," Sarik reminded her once more. "Socially, that is."

"You managed catch up by the time you were ten," Sarah recalled.

"Only because of you and my parents," Sarik reminded her. "I have no illusions about what would have happened without you guys. I would be the same as her. Possibly worse."

"I know," Sarah assured him. "But she has us. We'll get her on her feet."

Sarah sighed again, this time out of fatigue.

"So, how are we going to proceed?" Sarah inquired after a moment of silence.

"In what areas?" Sarik asked.

"Let's start with Stella," Sarah suggested.

Sarik smirked as he thought for a moment.

"Well, first we need to work on her mental stability," Sarik told her. "We need to do anything that will force her brain to break down what barriers it can, and allow her to regain at least part of her memories from back then. I would prefer to use the less intrusive methods, if we can. If she is exposed to enough stimuli, she should start recovering. Once she has her memories back, the rest of our work will be much easier, if my experience is worth anything."

"What about her long-term problems?" Sarah asked.

"Any sort of major surgery will have to wait," Sarik stated. "Remember, I was down and out for nearly a year, and I was fifteen."

"But as a result, your life expectancy was increased from twenty-five years to sixty, and your mental aspects showed significant improvement," Sarah reminded him.

"Not that there was ever anything wrong with them," Sarik replied arrogantly.

"I'm inclined to agree," Sarah said. "But the sooner we go through with the procedure, the better the long-term results."

"I know," Sarik assured her. "But the way things are right now, Stella would be an easy target during her recovery. And even if the current situation cools down to a safe level, she may not wish to go through with it. Some of us don't put much values in our own lives. Not after the things we've done."

Both Sarik and Sarah remained silent for the next few minutes as they thought on their words.

"So, how is she?" Sarik inquired softly.

Sarah smiled and remained silent for a moment.

"She seems fine, considering her injuries," Sarah told him. "I spoke with her for a few minutes after we moved her down here."

"Why DID you move her?" Sarik asked.

"Because she was uncomfortable in that cramped room," Sarah replied.

"That's it?" Sarik asked.

"Isn't that enough?" she replied with her own question.

Sarik remained silent in thought.

"I guess for her, it is," he murmured in an amused tone.

"She was concerned for you," Sarah told him.

Sarik smirked and remained silent for a moment, then returned to his cold composure.

"I doubt that," Sarik retorted.

"Why?" Sarah asked, confused.

"Oh, I don't know," Sarik started with a sarcastic tone. "I smacked her around with a stick, knocked her unconscious with a lethal amount of anesthetics, kidnapped her as far as she's probably concerned, got her involved in a firefight in which she unintentionally fought against her own people, and bashed her in the head with an assault rifle."

"Anything else?" Sarah questioned, slightly amused.

"I, umm, kinda..." Sarik stuttered, his face turning red.

"You saw her naked," Sarah stated in a matter-of-fact tone.

"I was trying to be a little less blunt, but ya," Sarik replied, his face nearly bright crimson in color. "How did you guess?"

"She told me she woke up in unfamiliar clothing when I asked her for a brief account of what happened," Sarah replied in an amused tone. "Doesn't take much to put one and one together. And you're blushing like hell."

Sarik scratched the back of his head, his own little way of fidgeting when he was uncomfortable with a particular subject.

"That would probably be your first time, wouldn't it?" she asked playfully.

"It wasn't like that," Sarik replied in a defensive tone. "She was going into hypothermia, and her clothing was soaking wet. I had to change her."

"I understand," Sarah assured him, het tone implying that she was teasing him.

"Have you no sense of self-control?" Sarik asked in a disgusted tone.

"At your age, I didn't," she replied playfully.

"I really did not need to know that," Sarik retorted in all seriousness.

Sarik and Sarah remained silent for several minutes, as one was extremely tired, while the other was deep in thought.

"So what DID she say?" Sarik asked curiously, breaking the silence.

"Well, she asked more questions than anything," Sarah told him.

"Like what?" Sarik questioned.

"She wanted to know where she was, who we were, where some acquaintances were, things of that nature," Sarah replied.

"Anything else?" Sarik inquired.

"She wanted to know how you were doing," Sarah told him. "She was concerned about your gunshot wound. It's just a theory, but I think you managed to bring back some of her memories. You made a big impact on her at that facility."

"It was a only a few months," Sarik replied.

"And during that time, you and Stella managed to completely change the facility's training system, executed a near-successful escape, helped each other become expert fighters..."

"I get the idea," he assured her. "But from what we know, they didn't perform the final procedures on her until AFTER she was moved to Lodonia with the other Extendeds."

"So?" Sarah questioned.

"So, I had mine finished while I was at the prototype facility," Sarik reminded her. "I had contact with her AFTER the final procedure was done. It's different in her case."

"Well, there must have been a flaw in it," Sarah deduced. "I assure you, she remembers you. Enough, anyway."

Sarik let out a sigh as a rare, well-rounded smile formed on his face. A hopeful smile.

"So, how will we proceed with the corporation?" Sarah asked, breaking the silence a few minutes later.

"Well, I figure that my little fiasco in Eurasia attracted plenty of attention," Sarik told her. "We'll need to do a thorough cleanup at my place. I want no trace of that house left. Have the Cleaners recover whatever they can, then burn the rest."

"I already have people en route to the site," Sarah informed Sarik. "I figured you would react in such a fashion."

"And we need to prepare for some sort of retaliation," Sarik continued.

"I think SSI's security will be ample for our needs," Sarah stated.

"If the enemy's only option was to attack us with mobile suits, I'd be inclined to agree," Sarik speculated. "But we're dealing with an enemy who can attack in places we've never had to deal with before."

"You're talking about the towns on the island," Sarah deduced.

Sarik nodded his head.

"We have plenty of personnel whom have families living with them on the island," Sarik reminded her. "Without security measures, any one of our employees can be turned against us. We've never really had to deal with this before because the company was of little consequence in the world until the past several years."

"That could already be a problem," Sarah said. "Our eyes in the towns have noticed strange people in the area."

"There is such a thing as a tourist," Sarik remarked. "But we'll go about the appropriate measures, just in case."

"What's my primary assignment going to be when we arrive?" Sarah asked Sarik.

"I'll take care of the security," he told her. "You get Stella settled in. We'll try working with her tomorrow."

"All right," Sarah complied.

Sarik slumped down into his chair and relaxed.

"The world we live in is truly a crazy place, isn't it?" he asked Sarah ten minutes later.

"To say the least," she agreed as she relaxed into her chair.

Sarik waited for a few minutes to let Sarah fall back to sleep before rising out of his chair and left the room without another word.

Sarik ascended back to the main deck and walked towards the aft of the ship, entering into the hangar. He was surprised by what he saw. The technicians managed to get a pair of Skygraspers and a modified Astray Shrike battle worthy before the_ Ares_ had taken off.

Sarik moved deeper into the compact bay, navigating along its catwalks. He walked in front of the Astray and took a moment to simply stare at it.

_Looks just like my M1A back home, _he remarked.

Sarik hit a button on the side of the mech's cockpit, which was located in the chest. The panels slid apart, providing him with a ramp into the machine and an outcropping. He climbed aboard and sealed the doors, then sat himself down into the single chair that dominated the center of the cramped compartment.

Sarik decided to activate the Astray and take a look at its specs.

He didn't remember this configuration. When he brought up the specs on the computer, it showed the model number "MBF-M1+EF-24RXMP", a designation that he didn't recognize. The mobile suit was dubbed "Astray Shrike Avenger", a name that he didn't recognize. Glancing over technical data, he realized that this mobile suit was something entirely new, a piece the SSI techies must have created during the weeks he was away.

As Sarik was exploring the computer system, he noticed that the OS was outdated, even if it were a standard Astray in the military. This was probably the result of a new system that currently only fulfilled the most essential OS requirements.

After stretching his hands out as far in front of him as they would go, Sarik pulled the mobile suit's keyboard out in front of him and began typing at an inhuman pace.


	13. Chapter 12

**CE 63**

Sarik yelled as another, more powerful jolt of electricity cut through his head, all while the computer monitor in front of him continued to flash images of death and destruction.

"Coordinators are the ones who killed our parents," droned the children around him. "Coordinators are the devils of space. All Coordinators must be killed in the interest of peace. For justice, and for a blue, pure world. We must kill all Coordinators."

Over and over, they chanted it, all but Sarik. Every child in the room had a device connected to his or her head that shocked them with varying degrees of high-voltage electricity. In theory, it would help them "accept" what they were saying more easily. And the more Sarik was forced into these brainwashing sessions, the harder he found it to resist. His young mind just couldn't handle the torture, enhanced or not.

This time, William was personally overseeing this session, and intentionally walked by Sarik's station. The boy knew he was here to taunt him, and for that reason alone.

"Coordinators are the ones who killed our parents," William chanted with the children. "Coordinators are the devils of space. All Coordinators must be killed in the interest of peace. For justice, and for a blue, pure world. We must kill all Coordinators."

William waited a moment for Sarik to repeat what he had just said, but the eight-year-old remained silent, staring desperately at the computer screen.

"Say it!" William ordered Sarik.

"My name...is Sarik...Ostheim," Sarik forced out in defiance as he looked up at William. "My parents....are Derick and...Laura Ostheim. Coordinators are just...like...us."

William backhanded Sarik, the boy intentionally moving himself into the blow's full force. He'd recently discovered that the resulting pain brought him some sort of strength, which helped him with his concentration.

William scowled, then glanced off in a direction that Sarik couldn't see and gestured. One of the facility's doctors quickly strolled over, readying an oddly shaped syringe. He stabbed the needle into Sarik's arm none too gently and injected the unknown substance within. Sarik instantly growled from the combined stresses of the electroshock, the pain in his face, the large needle being jabbed into his arm, and the burning in his veins resulting from the drug injected into his body, causing tears to begin streaming down from his closed eyes.

"Coordinators are the ones who killed our parents," William repeated calmly a few minutes later. "Coordinators are the devils of space. All Coordinators must be killed in the interest of peace. For justice, and for a blue, pure world. We must kill all Coordinators."

William's words echoed through Sarik's mind, sounding more and more true with each repetition. Sarik's vision blurred, and his mind grew groggy. It would have been so easy to just give in. But still, he resisted.

"My name is Sarik Ostheim!" Sarik yelled. "My parents' names are Derick and Laura Ostheim!"

"Your parents are dead!" William growled. "The Coordinators KILLED them!"

"My name is Sarik Ostheim!" Sarik repeated desperately. "My parents' names are Derick and Laura Ostheim! My name is Sarik Ostheim! My parents' names are Derick and Laura Ostheim!"

"Coordinators killed your parents!" William yelled at Sarik.

_They are not dead!_ Sarik told himself. _It's a lie!_

"My name is Sarik Ostheim," Sarik repeated calmly, even though his pains were great. "My LIVING parents' names are Derick and Laura Ostheim."

William shook his head and sighed at his brother's defiance.

"Guards," William called in a bored, annoyed tone.

Two large men walked over to Sarik's station and detached the device from his head. Sarik let out a sigh of true relief as the pain ended, even though a powerful headache soon followed. After releasing him from the chair's restraints, the two men pulled Sarik to his feat and had to drag him out of the room, the child's physical strength gone. They carried him to a part of the facility he had come to dread.

The cells.

The guards carelessly tossed Sarik into the chamber, slamming the metal door shut immediately behind him.

Sarik lay where he was, too exhausted and in too much pain to move. He simply started crying, eventually falling into a much needed sleep.

* * *

Sarah strolled along the sidewalk that bordered the beach, watching for any followers. It didn't take much to stand out, as it was nearly nine o'clock at night. Almost no one came out here at night.

Sarah eventually stumbled upon a small cluster of buildings, all of which were bustling with customers. After ensuring there was no one tailing her, the woman entered into one of the small restaurants, the one where she had been ordered by her contact to be at when the "sea is black". It didn't take much thought to figure that one out.

She waited only for a moment before she was greeted by a hostess.

"I need a table for two," Sarah informed the young woman, following her instructions. "Preferably with an ocean view."

"I think we have one right this way," the hostess told her.

Sarah followed the girl to a table in the back corner of the restaurant, located near the large window dominating the restaurants back wall. The portal gave its diners a perfect of view of the ocean, which was pitch black at this time of day.

Sarah sat down and waited for her contact arrive, who she assumed was late, since he apparently wasn't here. After waiting nearly an hour, she ordered a glass of cheap wine to take the edge off of what she was about to do.

Sarah watched as couple after couple entered into the restaurant, none seeming to be her contact.

* * *

Lee kept glancing over his shoulder as he walked along the beach. He hadn't noticed anyone suspicious following him, but he continued to get this odd feeling that he was being watched.

_Maybe I'm just getting paranoid,_ he thought.

He continued down the sidewalk, still extremely wary of this meeting. It could very well be a trap, though for what reason, he could not fathom. However, his only contact with this unnamed organization had been through Blue Cosmos members, circumstances that made it impossible for him to not be suspicious.

He arrived at the small beach-side restaurant minutes later, but still had a horrible, almost gut-wrenching feeling about entering. Lee surveyed the immediate area and noticed a single black car parked across the street. It wouldn't have stood out if not for the fact that there were absolutely no other vehicless around. Almost everyone walked down to the beach on this small island.

Lee inconspicuously walked across the street, then strolled brisklyup the sidewalk, towards the vehicle. He bolted forward when he heard the car's engine start, yanking the back door open and jumping in just as the car began pulling out.

"Keep driving," he ordered the driver.

"What the..." the man started.

"Don't screw with me," Lee told him as he pulled a silenced semi-automatic pistol from his suit and poked it into the man's neck.

"I seriously don't understand," the man told him, peering nervously into the rear-view mirror but never making eye contact with Lee. The man was obviously one for poor habit-making, since the driver wasn't supposed to be able to see the vehicles occupants in it.

"Who are you working for?" Lee inquired calmly.

"I work for a local importer," the man told him.

Lee drilled the gun to the man's neck, hoping he wasn't a subborn pro.

"You're lying," he accused his stalker.

"All right man, chill," the driver suggested in a frightened tone. "I...I'm just a local PI. I was hired by some creep to get pictures of you and your contact together."

"Thank you," Lee courtesied sarcastically. "Now find somewhere to park."

The man complied, soon finding an empty parking meant for those visiting the beach.

Before the man could do anything, Lee whipped him in the back of the head with his pistol. The man slumped forward into the steering wheel, out cold.

Lee quickly exited the vehicle, replaced his pistol in its holster, and pulled a handkerchief from his pocket to wipe his fingerprints from the door latches. As soon as he was done, he quickly proceeded back down the beach towards the restaurant.

Thirty minutes later, he arrived. Lee walked in professionally and glanced around the back of the establishment.

Most of the tables were occupied by two or more people, but there was one occupied by only a single woman with shoulder-length black hair wearing a _relatively_ modest red dress.

_Smart woman,_ Lee remarked. He himself was dressed in a business suit. It would probably look more like they were on a date rather than some sort of meeting or exchange.

He walked over to the table and quickly sat down without inviting himself.

"What took you so long, dear?" the woman acted.

"I had to finish up some business," he told her, playing along.

"What sort of business?" she asked.

Lee smiled and leaned over the table.

"Like the sort that was following me," he replied quietly in a threatening tone as he un-holstered his hidden pistol. "I have a gun under the table. If anything funny happens, you're the first to go."

"I assure you that I had nothing to do with it," she replied calmly, looking Lee straight in the eye as she said it.

He was amused. If she was lying, she was very good at it.

"Lee Brackford," he told her, introducing himself.

"Sarah Raahl," the woman replied.

"So, what is this supposed information that you have on my employer's sons?" Lee asked.

* * *

Sarik sat in the corner of his cell, repeating the same phrase over and over in his head.

_My name is Sarik Ostheim. My parents are Derick Ostheim and Laura Ostheim. My friends are Stella, Grey, and Alex._

He began crying as he continied to memorize. He was crying for his parents. Recently, these people had done something to him, and he had forgotten almost everything. It was only when he was reunited with the rest of Blue Team that his memories had come flooding back. But even then, they weren't all there, his parents' faces now nothing but blurs. He only knew who they were, and that they were alive. He feared he might completely forget about them the next time.

But even when thinking on that, he had his doubts. Were they alive? It had been so long since he last saw them.

_Do they even exist?_

But he forced those thoughts out of his head and went back to reciting. He knew who he was, and no one was going to change that. He would hold on, even if it killed him.

* * *

"So you expect me to believe that William Ostheim, son of the owner of an international corporation, has been a full-fledged member of Blue Cosmos for over a decade, all in complete secrecy from his parents?" Lee remarked sarcastically. "Where's your proof?"

Sarah pulled a small disk from her purse and held it under the table.

"You'll find records of his initiation, surveillance recordings of him within the Blue Cosmos facility, and examples of his programs there," Sarah informed him.

Lee snatched the object from Sarah's hands and inconspicuously pocketed it.

"What about Sarik?" Lee questioned.

"You'll find everything you should need to convince your employers to take action," Sarah assured.

"I assume this doesn't come for free," he deduced.

"No," Sarah told him.

"What will you require?" Lee asked.

"I need protection for myself and the network that helped me procure this information from Blue Cosmos," Sarah told him.

"That's a hefty price," Lee replied, testing her. "I might be able to help you, but no one else."

"Look, we're all resources you can use," Sarah told him. "I know that facility better than anyone you could get your hands on. Others know access codes, research, conditioning methods. Every bit of information you need on that facility and Blue Cosmos can be found among the people that helped me. I will personally lead the infiltration effort if that's what you need to make this go through."

"You're pretty gungho about this," Lee remarked. "Why?"

Sarah glanced down at her feet.

"My family had been with Blue Cosmos for two generations," Sarah told him. "Naturally, I followed suit. But after I saw what was happening in there, I found my conscience wouldn't allow me to support that organization any longer. I owe it to Sarik and everyone other child stuck in there to get them out alive."

Lee nodded his head in silent agreement, then froze as his gut feeling suddenly went bad.

"We need to leave," he told Sarah.

She looked around the restaurant and noticed a suspicious man and woman entering together. They looked normal enough except for one thing.

They were guards from the facility.

"Those two that just entered are from the training facility," Sarah informd Lee.

"This way," Lee ordered as he rose, never looking back to confirm her observation as he grabbed her hand and pulled her along towards the kitchen.

The two guards followed closely behind, no longer bothering to hide their intent.

Lee threw Sarah out of the back exit as he pulled his pistol from its temporary hiding place and flicked off the safety. He fired three shots at the guards, who threw themselves to the ground to avoid the 9mm bullets.

"Come on!" he yelled at Sarah as he ran out of the door and slammed it shut, re-holstering his pistol and pulling the woman to her feet.

The two ran down the beach, back in the direction from which Lee had come. It was not long before Sarah heard the screeching of tires and a car came speeding down the road. She saw Lee pull his weapon from its holster once more.

"Get across the street and hide!" he told Sarah as he pushed her away.

Sarah was wary about doing this, but did so without question. As she ran, she spotted a car speeding towards them. However, it didn't veer towards her, as Lee opened fire on it, causing its drivers to bring the vehicle to a stop, its passengers disembarking immediately. Four of them, all brandishing pistols of various models and makes.

The sight left Sarah's vision as she ran into a thicket of decorative bushes and trees near the sidewalk, trying to find somewhere to hide. She froze when she heard a branch crack behind her. Rather than moving along, she crouched down, trying to hide herself as best as she could. Sarah percieved someone large moving towards her, much larger than Lee. She knew it was one of the guards who was chasing her.

Rather than sitting helplessly, Sarah charged her opponent, who apparently hadn't spotted her, yet. As he tried to aim his pistol at her, Sarah slapped it away, forcing him to fire in another direction, the percussion nearly deafening her. Whatever type of pistol this was, it was excessively powerful.

The guard took advantage of the distraction and whipped Sarah with the grip of his weapon, hitting her in the shoulder and knocking off of her feet. Sarah was wracked with pain as she felt something crack.

As the woman fell to the ground, the guard aimed his pistol at her, preparing to dispatch her. But before he could pull the trigger, Sarah swept a leg under him, knocking him off of his feet.

As he fell to the ground, the guard lost his grip on the pistol. As a result, it went flying over a meter away from him.

Sarah was already on her feet as the handgun came to a rest. She leaped towards the weapon and grabbed it, skidding to a stop on her stomach. Not wasting time, she rolled over onto her back.

The guard was close, about to stomp his foot onto her mid-section. She pointed the pistol in his general direction and fired, nearly loosing her grip on the weapon from its ridiculously powerful recoil. Sarah was sprayed in blood as the bullet penetrated the guard's abdomen, the force of the bullet alone lifting him a few centimeters into the air and dropping him onto his back.

Sarah was instantly her feet, shock setting in. However, she pointed her weapon at her attacker and, despite the fact that he was unmoving, put another round into his chest.

Sarah nearly threw down the pistol in disgust, but knew better, and kept it in case she had to use it later.

She almost did as she heard another person running towards her. If he didn't start calling for her at the last second, Sarah would have accidentally shot Lee, who was now a meter from her.

"My hotel is this way," the man informed her as he casually snatched the firearm pointed at him from her.

* * *

Sarik woke up as he heard the cell door open. He simply lay there, sprawled out on the floor and unable to move.

"Get up!" someone yelled at him.

Sarik tried to rise, but collapsed from exhaustion. He hadn't had anything to eat for two days, and a few hours of sleep did little to rejuvenate him.

"Get up!" that same person yelled as he kicked Sarik in the side.

"I can't," he whimpered.

Sarik heard him sigh, then felt the person pick him up and throw him over his shoulder.

"You shouldn't fight them so much," the man told Sarik as he carried him down the corridors.

"I...have to," Sarik replied.

"Why?" the man asked.

"Because," Sarik replied vaguely.

Sarik heard children ahead, but didn't bother trying to move, since he couldn't.

Sarik felt his caretaker set him down softly onto a bench. Sarik looked up and saw that same guard who took him to that first operation.

"Stay here," the guard ordered Sarik with a slightly concerned tone.

Sarik did so, unable to do anything to begin with.

A few minutes later, the guard returned with a tray stacked with food.

"Eat," he told Sarik as he set the tray in front of him.

Sarik reached forward and grabbed a roll off the tray, scarfing it down in seconds.

"Slow down," Sarik's guard told him as he sat. "You're going to make yourself sick."

Sarik ignored the man and, throwing aside any sort of etiquette, began shoveling every bit of food into his mouth that he could.

He regretted it a moment later when his stomach began aching and he vomited every ounce of his meal onto the floor.

"Dammit, kid!" the guard yelled as he jumped up to avoid the foul mixture.

He looked down on Sarik, who was hunched over on his seat, holding his stomach. The guard sighed and walked off towards the front of the cafeteria, most likely to get someone to come clean it up.

Sarik took the moment to observe the large chamber. It seemed that he wasn't the only one in here who was resisting. There were dozens of other children who were even worse off than him.

Sarik began to wonder if he could turn them against their masters. If he could get those kinds of numbers on his side, then he and everyone else might have a chance to escape.

But then, he remembered the girl that William had shot to simply get his point across. Sarik had no doubt that he would hurt Stella, then Alex and Grey if he tried something like that.

Sarik's attention drifted to the cafeteria doors when they opened next. Two more guards came through carrying two children. One was Stella, the other was Alex. Both appeared to be in similar shape to him.

The guards set the children down across the table from where Sarik sat, then proceeded to obtain food for their charges. They weren't in any condition to run, so the guards obviously weren't taking their jobs too seriously.

"Where's Grey?" Sarik asked in a whisper.

"He...gave...up..." Alex huffed in between his deep, pained breaths.

Sarik looked straight down at the floor, thinking, calculating, hoping. He had always looked up to Grey, and he thought Grey had always been stronger than him. If he was broken so easily, what hope did the rest of them have?

But Sarik purged those pessimistic thoughts from his mind and returned to thinking. They couldn't try to escape, because William would hurt his friends. But if they stayed, they would continue to be hurt. Truly, the only option he seemed to have WAS to give up.

Then, he came up with the idea. Every time they took him down to the underground levels, he grew more powerful. He was able to think faster, his reflexes were better, and he had physically become stronger. But at the same time, every time that they performed an operation, it become harder and harder to resist the sessions. The headaches that constantly accompanied him were the milder side-effects of his resistance.

However, if he gave up, or seemed to, maybe he could get enough power to fight, to protect his friends. Maybe even they would get power. Each already had been through two surgeries. All they had to do was remember who they were, remember each other, and remember their goal. The other things in his mind, faded beyond recognition, no longer mattered. He, THEY, had but to survive. Then they could escape.

While they waited for their food, Sarik explained his idea to Stella and Alex.

"But what...about everything...else?" Alex asked.

"Can you remember what your mom looks like? Or your home? Your room?" Sarik questioned, keeping his gaze on Alex.

Alex closed his eyes and flexed his face, trying to concentrate.

"I...can't," he remarked in astonishment.

"If we remember each other, we can make it out of here together," Sarik told them slowly. "But we have to get enough power. If we're not strong enough, we'll be killed."

They all remained silent in thought as their caretakers returned with trays full of food. Sarik ate much more slowly this time, not wishing to repeat the painful experience he had just minutes before.

When they were finished, the guards took away the children's trays. They were once more alone.

"Alex?" Sarik said.

"You're right," he told Sarik. He extended a hand across the table towards Sarik.

"Stella?" Sarik said.

She glared at him intently, her violet eys almost seeming to pierce into his very mind. But she nodded in agreement a few seconds later, and extended a hand towards him.

"Remember each other," Sarik reminded them.

The three sat for a few seconds, their hands interlocked. Then, Sarik broke the circle. Things were going to be hell from now on. They all knew it.


	14. Chapter 13

**CE 74**

Sarik lifted his hands from the keyboard and popped his knuckles. For the past two hours, he had been typing nonstop, modifying the Astray's operating system even more than the initial updates called for. He had discovered several new methods to fine-tune the mobile suit's hardware for Natural use; more so than the technicians back home had, at least.

During his time pruning the OS, it was revealed to him that this was not merely a modified Astray, but a prototype of a completely new variant. It was loosely based off of the MBF-M1+EF-24 "Astray Shrike", but the only thing remotely similar was the original frame. The SSI technicians had given it a complete overhaul, implementing the latest technologies into its design.

First, it had one of SSI's new ultra-compact battery supplies installed, providing it with nearly three times more power capacity than any government military's current power supplies. Because of this, more powerful systems could be installed on the mobile suit and still be used during normal combat. The beam rifle's power had nearly been doubled, and because of some efficiency modifications made by SSI, so was its fire rate and overall accuracy.

The close combat weapons currently equipped were were MA-M01 "Lacerta" beam sabers, derived from ZAFT's old specs on weaponry used by several mobile suit prototypes, including the Freedom and Justice Gundams. However, because of SSI modifications to the original design, its power usage was halved while simultaneously increasing the beam intensity by nearly forty percent. The weapon could slice through Phase Shift armor like a knife through butter, if the Astray ever got close enough to the target to use the weapon. However, this scenario was highly unlikely, as most mass-produced mobile suits did not come equipped with anything but standard plate armor, which could not stand up to the firepower that most Phase Shift equipped units could dish out.

The largest improvement Sarik noticed in the machine, however, was a major change to the flight pack. Dubbed the "Shrike Avenger" pack, it had high-power hover jets in place of rotors, and a pair of large propulsion thrusters used for designed for high-speed flight were located in center of the pack. Dozens of small, stationary maneuvering fans rimmed the device, giving the Astray atmospheric maneuvering capabilities nearly equivalent to that of an M1A in space, assuming that the pilot could stand up to the gravitational forces. These additions also gave it an increased weight allowance.

Sarik was so intent on his work that he nearly jumped out of his seat when an alarm went off in the cockpit. He saved his changes to the OS, then contacted the bridge.

"This is Ostheim," he reported. "What's going on?"

"Sir?" the commander asked, his face appearing on the Astray's left communications screen. "I didn't realize you were aboard the Shrike. How long have you been in there?"

"That's irrelevant," Sarik told him. "What's with the alarm?"

"I'll patch you through to the ship's comm. It'll explain things faster."

There was urgency in the commander's voice, so, sensing trouble, Sarik strapped himself into the pilot's chair and brought the mobile suit's computer back up.

"...I repeat, this is ZAFT combat air patrol C-1901 to unidentified aircraft," said a young man's voice. "You are intruding on ZAFT airspace. You will reduce your speed to one hundred knots and descend to two thousand meters, then set course for the ZAFT military base in the Gulf of Carpenteria. You now have sixty seconds to comply before you are fired upon."

"What a load of crap," Sarik remarked. "We're barely skirting ZAFT airspace. No one patrols this far out from the mainland."

"You can't blame them, really," the commander stated. "An aircraft emitting no transponder code would definitely catch my attention."

"Can't we just hit the afterburners and hightail it back to Orb?" Sarik asked.

"Well, you see, there's this little issue on fuel," the commander informed Sarik.

"We're burning time here, what's the problem?" Sarik inquired impatiently.

"How do you think we got to Eurasia so fast?" the bridge commander questioned rhetorically. "We were hitting the afterburners the entire time on our way there. We barely have enough energy to get back to Orb and land."

Sarik sighed.

"Prepare the ship for combat," Sarik ordered. "I'll have the Shrike Avenger ready to go within the minute."

"Sir!" the commander complied before signing off.

Sarik went back to modifying the mobile suit's OS. This time, however, he was inputting his personal settings, adapting them from his M1A back home. He hoped that these settings would maximize the mech's combat potential while he was piloting it, rather than causing the complete opposite.

Sarik almost cursed when an explosion rocked the ship, causing him to mistype a command thread. Sarik corrected his mistakes, glanced over the OS one more time, then saved his modifications.

"I'm ready to launch," Sarik transmitted to the bridge as he gripped the machine's controls.

The CIC officer's face appeared on the right communication screen.

"The other pilots are almost ready to go," he informed Sarik. "We'll have to wait until they're in the Skygraspers before you can launch."

Sarik slumped back into the pilot's chair and let out a sigh. He noticed a bead of sweat rolling down his face and wiped it off.

"You all right?" the CIC officer asked Sarik.

"This is my first time in mobile suit combat," Sarik confessed, keeping a calm voice and a straight face.

"We can just have Skygraspers launch," he told Sarik.

"Two Skygraspers versus at least three ZAFT mobile suits?" Sarik asked retorically. "They don't stand a chance alone."

"Actually, it's five mobile suits," the CIC officer informed Sarik. "Four AMF-101 DINNs and an AMRF-101C AWACS DINN."

"DINNs?" Sarik asked. "There's definitely something up. ZAFT replaced those with BABIs as their interceptors right after the war started."

Sarik watched through his cockpit's side screens as the pilots sealed themselves inside of their Skygraspers.

"The pilots are secure," Sarik told the CIC officer. "I'm moving onto the catapult. I'll be leaving the shield."

Sarik set the mobile suit's bulky shield near the docking station, then moved it towards the catapult, taking note of the vibrations as the eighteen meter tall mech stomped forward. He wasn't sure if it was normal for him to be able to feel those.

"I'm ready for launch," Sarik informed the bridge once he was locked in place.

"All right," the CIC officer said. "I believe you know protocol. State your name and your vehicle's designation for the ship's logs prior to launch."

Sarik remained silent as he watched the bay doors open. A moment later, the launch indicator gave him the go ahead.

"Sarik Ostheim, Astray Shrike Avenger, ENGAGING!" Sarik reported with enthusiasm just before launching.

He kept a strong grip on his controls as the Astray was slung forward, flying in excess of the speed of sound. As soon as he was clear of the airship, Sarik slowed the mobile suit and activated his Shrike pack, hovering just a short distance behind the _Ares_.

As he slowed, however, Sarik came under fire from two of the DINNs that he was sent out to engage. He barely had time to avoid their attacks before another DINN joined in.

"Damn!" Sarik yelled in his frustration, snapping off a single shot before he had start dodging again.

"I'm sending covering fire," the CIC officer told Sarik.

A moment later, Sarik had yet another problem, as he was now dodging fire from several 75mm "Igelstellung" CIWS gatling cannons in addition to the DINNs machine guns and anti-aircraft shotguns. Obviously, there were still quite a few quirks left in the SSI targeting software.

However, the DINNs were in the same jam, and their fire slackened to mere pot shots. Sarik used this distraction to maneuver next to the _Ares_ and snap off several more shots with his rifle at his distracted opponents. While Sarik and the _Ares_ distracted the DINNs, the two Skygraspers were able to launch safely. Hopefully, they would be able to turn the tide of the battle.

"_Ares_, slack off on the supporting fire," Sarik ordered as he dove into the fray.

Sarik flew forward, firing his beam rifle as fast as the weapon would cycle. He managed to clip one of the DINNs wings, causing it to fall behind the fight, and soon after, shot another's arm off, destroying the anti-aircraft shotgun that it was wielding.

Sarik dove backwards as he avoided several more shots from the DINNs' 76mm machine guns, then retaliated with twice as many from his beam rifle. He was trying to hold the DINN pilots' attention for as long a he could, in order to provide the Skygraspers with an opportunity to strike.

It turned out, his distraction worked. After distancing themselves from the battle, the two Skygraspers completely inverted direction in mid-air and came screeching in at top speed, allowing their weapons to blaze away. Both were armed with Launcher strike packs, which provided them with enough firepower to destroy warships, much less aging mobile suits.

The DINN Sarik had damaged in his last offensive was obliterated by the combined firepower of one fighter's "Agni" hyper impulse cannon, its machine guns and cannons, and its dorsal mounted beam cannon. Another DINN was destroyed as it attempted to break formation, mercilessly mowed down by the other Skygrasper. Sarik cringed from the combined light of the impulse cannons' red beams, the beam cannons' bright green bolts, and the two DINNs exploding.

Sarik continued to dodge as the DINNs launched a wave of missiles at his forces and the _Ares_. He avoided two missiles and shot down three more headed for the_ Ares_ with the Igelstellungs mounted in the sides of the Astray's head.

One of the Skygrasper pilots was not as fortunate. While dodging missiles launched from the remaining DINNs, the AWACS DINN had moved in and taken a shot at him with its machine gun. Half of the fighter's equipment was blown off, and one of the engines was spewing smoke. The DINN was about to finish it off when Sarik dove in and took the hit for it. Having no shield, Sarik threw out the only thing his mobile suit had in hand, which happened to be his beam rifle.

Sarik cringed as his mobile suit was knocked back by the combined forces of the weapon's explosion and the DINN's shots. Sarik forced the Astray to climb vertically in an attempt to avoid taking anymore damage, but he still received several more glancing hits along his torso and legs. He starting stressing when he realized that one of the 76mm rounds had penetrated his machine in the side of the chest, damaging one of the inertial dampers that allowed him to maneuver in the fashion that he did.

Having no other choice, Sarik drew both of the Astray's beam sabers from their mounts on the Astray's shoulders. It was considered unorthodox by many pilots to use two weapons at once, but Sarik was experienced in this fighting style, and more than a bit desperate. He hoped he could transfer both his skills and desperation to the battle before it was too late.

Sarik dove downward towards his target, the AWACS DINN, which had just pulled its anti-aircraft shotgun from the racks on its hips. Sarik opened fire with the Igelstellung machine cannons, hoping it would buy him enough to to reach his target.

Sarik dodged to the left as the DINN forced itself into a free fall and fired, keeping Sarik at a safe distance. Sarik continued firing and dodging, pushing the Astray's speed to his physical limits.

The DINN slowed its descent as it neared the ocean, then skimmed along its surface. Sarik redirected his mobile suit, barely avoiding collision with the deep waters. He pursued the DINN meters from the choppy surface, all the while dodging clouds of shrapnel as the ZAF mobile suit continued to fire at him.

Sarik was growing frustrated at the time it was taking him to take down the aging machine. He was amazed at the pilot's skill, who was heavily encumbered by the large radar dome on top of the mobile suit. This pilot was obviously an ace, and knew his machine well.

The DINN flew upward, back in the direction of the _Ares_. It no longer had its sights set on Sarik, but on the ship, which had no protection from an attack at the moment.

Sarik forced the Astray to climb as fast as he could muster, but he could feel the strain on his body from the previous maneuvers. Normally pain didn't set in for him until after a fight, so gravity had to be stressing his body big time. Sarik accelerated after the DINN, slowly gaining on it, almost too slowly in Sarik's opinion. As he flew into range, Sarik opened fire with his Igelstellungs, filling the air with 75mm slugs, but he was still unable to down the DINN. He stopped firing, as he was merely wasting rounds.

However, as Sarik grew frustrated and even more desperate, something clicked within him. Time slowed, his perception increased, and his worries almost disappeared. For some reason, he believed, no, KNEW everything was going to be all right.

Sarik opened fire with his Igelstellungs again, this time much more accurately despite the fact that the calibration was off. He was able calculate the DINN's pattern of movement and managed to trick its pilot into maneuvering directly into his stream of fire, damaging one of its wings. Sarik took advantage of the other pilot's new handicap, launching the Astray upward at dangerously high speeds. The DINN slowly turned on Sarik, its shotgun poised to destroy him once and for all. But by the time the pilot was ready to pull the trigger, Sarik was already on top of it. He tossed the saber in his right hand at the mobile suit, cutting through its left arm and destroying its shotgun. The dismembered limb fell from the DINN just as Sarik used his suit's right arm to force the DINN's remaining arm out of the way and poise his other saber to stab straight through the DINN's chest.

But for some reason, something forced him to stop just before obliterating his enemy. His new-found power suddenly left him, and he was left exhausted and in pain. The mobile suit Sarik was holding remained hovering in place. For nearly twenty seconds, they both simply flew there, silent and unmoving.

Then, the partially masked face of a ZAFT pilot appeared on one of Sarik's comm screens.

"This is Commander Anika Raider," informed the pilot. "I give you my unconditional surrender. I am powering down all unnecessary systems."

Sarik snapped back to reality as the AWACS DINN began to drop. He quickly deactivated his weapons and grabbed the damaged mobile suit before it fell too far. With the DINN's thrusters assisting him, he flew back the _Ares_ as fast as he was able. He kept eying his power gauge the entire time, which was in the red zone. Apparently, he had wasted a lot of shots with his beam rifle. He made a mental note to himself to either reduce the beam rifle's power or reduce the fire rate the next time he was in a mobile suit.

The _Ares_'s commander gave Sarik a difficult time as he arrived, but once Sarik explained his deteriorating situation, followed with threats of a large variety, all of the man's arguments went out the window. As soon as Sarik was inside the _Ares_'s hangar, he held the DINN at the edge of the bay as he ripped off its weapon racks and tossed them into the ocean located several kilometers below.

* * *

Sarik stumbled out of the Astray's cockpit and fell onto his knees, panting. At this exact moment, every possible pain he could imagine was wracking his body.

He sat there for a minute, trying to fight it, but the more he concentrated on pain, the more powerful it became. Sarik held his head as a powerful ache overtook him, stronger than any migraine that he had ever experienced before. Soon after, he began yelling, incapable of caring about his composure in his suffering.

He heard someone running towards him and jumped up, balancing himself on the catwalk's railing. He looked in the direction of the sounds, and could barely make out Sarah and a few others running towards him.

"He..help," Sarik managed to growl out.

Sarah pulled an autodermical from one of the men following her and and popped the cap off, then walked up to Sarik, pulled down the collar of his shirt, and stabbed it directly into his heart. Sarik's first reaction was to kill her right then and there, but he fought against his programming for a moment longer. Several seconds later, his pain was gone, and he was able to calm himself.

"Thank you," Sarik breathed to Sarah after having regained some of his composure.

"You have got to learn to be more careful," she told him.

"Never going to happen," Sarik panted as he walked off towards the captured DINN, now locked down into the _Ares's_ hangar wall.

Sarik limped over to the restrained mobile suit, which was being guarded by the other two pilots, both whom were physically fine. He walked up to the cockpit and hit the button on the side of the mech's cockpit, causing the panels to separate. Inside, the pilot, who was dressed in a red flight suit, was holding her hands up to show that she was unarmed.

"Get out of there," Sarik ordered her.

She slowly crawled out of the cockpit, wary of the four men who had guns of various kinds trained on her.

"Stand still," Sarik told her once she was out.

After she froze, Sarik personally walked over to her and removed all of the equipment attached to her suit, her side-arm and combat knife especially.

"Dispose of these," Sarik ordered as he handed the equipment off to one of his bodyguards. "Any one of them might have a tracker implanted in it."

Once he was sure she posed no threat, Sarik stepped back. For the first time since she had stepped onto the ship, Sarik noticed how much smaller the ZAFT pilot was than him. True, he was one point eight meters tall, but she was at least two or three heads shorter than him.

"Helmet off," Sarik ordered her.

She slowly but gracefully disconnected the helmet from her suit and held it professionally under her arm.

Sarik was shocked at what he saw. He saw a black haired, emerald eyed child staring back at him. She couldn't have been any older than fifteen.

"Sarah, have her confined in the officer's quarters," Sarik ordered coldly, keeping his gaze on the girl.

Sarik turned around and began limping in the direction to the main ship, but stopped as he neared Sarah.

"And make sure she doesn't see Stella," he said quietly, looking straight forward. "For any reason."

"Understood," the woman replied emotionlessly.


	15. Chapter 14

**CE 63**

Sarik woke up in his bed, sweating. As he came to his senses, he realized that he was without any memory for what consisted of at least past few days.

_Once again_, the boy thought. This was almost becoming routine for him. They would take him down into the laboratories, do whatever it was that they did to him, and he would wake up a day or so later in his bed with a migraine and no recollection of what had happened to him.

After allowing his blood pressure to climb to an acceptable level, Sarik leaped out of his bed. He seemed to do so with an almost instinctive grace, so much that he figured this time they made him more dexterous. This also wasn't uncommon after the surgeries. So far, they had made him stronger, think faster, more enduring, and now, it seemed, more graceful.

Sarik was careful as he climbed up the bunk to the bed above him, as every part of him seemed to be enhanced with each surgery, no matter what they concentrated on. When he had recovered from his first operation, he had nearly killed Stella. He wasn't going to allow a repeat of that incident. He didn't want to hurt her, or any of his friends, ever again.

"You awake yet?" Sarik whispered to Stella as he poked his head over the top of the mattress.

She had her blanket over her head, as if she were hiding.

"Go away," she ordered Sarik, the pain obvious in her voice.

Sarik knew what she was going through, and light only made the pain worse. He was feeling that same pain right now, but one of the more recent modifications he had received in the past month helped him to manage pain more easily. It didn't make the ordeal any less painful, per se, but he could manage it better. It seemed that everyone else was at least two or three operations behind him, so they had yet to gain this advantage.

"I know it hurts, but it won't get any better unless you get used to it," Sarik told Stella.

He heard a light sigh, followed by a pair of hands appearing from under the blanket and pulling it down. Stella sat straight up, revealing what had been done to her. Sarik winced as he saw the bandages that had been wrapped around part of her head. They had done that after his fifth surgery, after they made him think faster.

"What do you want?" she asked in a frustrated tone.

"They're going to get us in a few minutes," Sarik informed her, motioning his hand towards the clock above the door. They always came to get them about noon for their post-operation check-up. It was a quarter till.

Stella sighed as she fell back onto the bed, pulling the covers with her.

"Get me then," she told him.

Sarik shrugged, then allowed himself to fall down to the floor, landing in complete silence.

_I could get used to this,_ he thought to himself.

"Alex, Grey," he called quietly towards the other set of bunks across the room.

"What?" Grey asked from the bottom bed.

"They'll be here in a few minutes," Sarik informed him.

Grey simply smirked and balanced himself as he kicked the bottom of Alex's mattress.

Alex, who was apparently already awake, grabbed the side of the bunk and slung himself downward, swinging in to kick Grey in the stomach. But by the time Alex hit, Grey had already rolled onto the floor. He jumped up to his feet and moved into a battle stance as Alex pursued him.

"Very funny," Alex remarked, readying himself with his own unique stance.

Grey smirked before he threw a punch, which Alex ducked under before tackling Grey. He knocked the larger boy to the ground, then elbowed him in the face. Grey kneed Alex in the gut, then threw him aside.

"Can't you guys be quiet?" Stella asked in an irritated voice. She leaped from her bunk, landing in a fashion that made even Sarik look bad. It seemed that nature had given her grace enough.

"You care to join?" Alex asked obnoxiously, as they were only playing.

Stella instantly moved into her own stance with the most annoyed look on her face that any one of them had ever seen.

Grey and Alex both tensed up, knowing what was to come. Stella, despite her age and size, had proven herself to be best fighter on the team, next to Sarik. Even taking his abilities into consideration, she was far more fluid and graceful, and on occasion, proved to be Sarik's match. Not that that was an issue. He always had her back if it ever came to a fight, whether in words or physical combat.

Grey and Alex both relaxed, waiting for Stella to do the same. Sarik put his hand on her shoulder, his personal way of telling her that everything was safe. Stella straightened up, making her demeanor less threatening.

"So, what do we do now?" Grey asked, almost instantly bored. Now that he, Alex, and Stella had received the improvements to their thought processes, that was bound to happen often. Time seemed at a standstill for Sarik whenever he wasn't doing anything.

"They're almost here," Sarik told him, taking note of the footsteps in the corridor outside.

"Wanna make a run for it?" Alex mouthed, just as he had after every surgery since his first.

Sarik shook his head just so slightly. Alex shrugged and let it go.

The four children lined up side by side and waited about ten seconds before the door opened. In walked four guards armed with submachine guns, and Sarik knew there were four more armed with guns at least as powerful assault rifles waiting outside of the door.

"C'mon," one guard ordered, motioning out the door with his gun.

Sarik was the first out of the door, walking with an air of defiance about him. It was in his face, his stance, his presence. He was soon followed by Stella, then Alex, then Grey, all but Grey repeating his mannerisms.

Sarik thought about what they all had to do to get back here. He, Stella, and Alex had devised a plan to make it seem like they were giving in to the brainwashing, but weren't. Too much, anyway. In order to do this, each and every one of them had to make a sacrifice. During the sessions, they would cooperate, repeating the words chanted, watching the horrible images on the screens, giving in to the pain of the devices.

During those sessions, however, they would be thinking of only two things: their own names, and their friends. This meant giving up everything else. Sarik hated having to do this, because by now, he had almost forgotten his parents completely. He couldn't even remember how big his father was, or the kindness of his mother, or any of the good times that he knew he had with them. He barely remembered their names, and he knew those memories would go, too, along with those of any of his other family, his friends outside of this place, and even his belongings. He could already see it in Grey, who gave up weeks ago. Sarik and the others knew it would be unsafe to let him know what they were doing, because he might go and tattle on them once everything was more ingrained.

Sarik knew the way, and soon came to the door to the facility's main infirmary. He waited for the door to slide open, then walked inside.

* * *

Sarah followed Lee into the office building, keeping close behind him. She didn't feel right about personally meeting with Sarik's parents, who probably thought little good about her right now.

She had managed to convince Lee of what was going on, but from what he had told her, the Ostheims would not be swayed so easily. They were especially upset about having to fly back to Earth before their project in space was complete. It had taken Lee a week to get them to even consider returning.

"Are you sure this is appropriate?" Sarah asked Lee, speaking of the dress she wore, which was a bit extravagant.

"If you don't make a good first impression on my employers, there's a good chance they won't bother listening to ANYTHING that leaves your mouth," he told her.

"They have the same evidence as you, don't they?" she asked.

"Yes, but William is their son, and they left nearly a third of the corporation in his hands. Those photos could have easily been forged, and you're simply a disgruntled associate trying to soil his reputation."

"You don't believe that," Sarah stated.

"I've never trusted that man," Lee told her. "Too secretive to be trustworthy, in my opinion. And his arrogance never helped my opinion of him, either."

Sarah smirked at Lee's remark. He described the man perfectly.

"Well, we're here," Lee informed Sarah. In front of them was a large, wooden double door flanked by two security guards.

Lee took a deep breath and motioned to the guards, who then opened both doors.

* * *

"If you go through with this successfully, you and your team will be permitted leave," William told the boy in front of him. "You will never see or hear from us again."

The ten year old child looked off into empty space, deep in thought. Since his team failed that first test, they had been submitted to things that no other child in the facility had been, not even Blue Team. They had to get away from it before it killed them.

He looked back at William and nodded, no hint of hesitation in his body language.

William smiled and handed the boy a loaded 9mm semi-automatic pistol.

"I knew you'd make the right choice," he remarked as he nodded to the three guards in the room, who equipped the other three children with long combat knives. William remained silent as the guards escorted the children from the room to the location of their mission.

"Is this really necessary?" Doctor Spence asked William. "Shouldn't we try something in a more...controlled environment? Where there would be less collateral damage?"

"No, because in a controlled environment, my brother would still refuse to kill," William stated. "If we put the girl in immediate danger, he won't have a choice."

Spence snorted.

"What's funny about this, Doctor?" William asked in all seriousness.

"Saying that those children are a DANGER to any one on Blue Team is an overstatement," Spence remarked. "Blue One has had eight enhancement surgeries as opposed to the six every other child in the facility has received, and Blue TEAM is one of the best teams here. This will be a slaughter."

"Which is why I gave Cyan Team weapons," William informed Spence.

"Blue Team will still take them down quickly," Spence said.

"This isn't a contest of skill," William reminded Spence. "This is a test of substance, to see if Sarik will use his full potential. He's the only one I care about, right now."

"With the most recent modifications we did to his programming, he won't hesitate," Spence told William.

"If I'm not mistaken, you also performed a memory wipe, and Magner planted a suggestion that Blue Two was the enemy, yet he didn't even so much as flinch when they were reunited," William ridiculed. "He has a strong will, and a spirit of defiance about him."

"That won't last long," Spence assured him. "A child, a human being, can only endure so much before breaking."

"And we must do everything we can to speed up that process," William reminded him.

Spence sighed and remained silent in thought for a few minutes.

"Why are we all of the sudden rushing?" he asked William. "Blue One's first two surgeries were at least a week apart, but now he and the rest of his team are only allowed days to recover between operations."

"We have been compromised," William informed Spence in a matter-of-fact tone.

Spence remained silent for a moment.

"For how long?" he asked calmly.

"A few weeks, now," William told him. "There was an incident a month ago in one of our surveillance rooms. The assigned security officer was knocked unconscious, and there was little trace of the attacker. Later investigations showed an unauthorized download that someone had attempted to cover up. I had an idea of whom it was and sent agents to take care of her. I haven't heard back from them in over two weeks."

"Who did the mole go to?" Spence questioned.

"Silver Shield Incorporated," William said in disgust.

"Aren't they just a medical research organization?" Spence asked, confused.

William snorted.

"Hardly. They have their hand in every industry on the face of this planet. They simply try to keep a low profile, and generally do a good job at it, but their influence is nothing to sneeze at."

"How long do you think we have before they locate us?" Spence inquired calmly.

"Another week before they get surveillance crews out here, at least another before they try to raid the place," William assured Spence.

"So we have that long to get some more modifications in and evacuate the facility?" he asked.

"Yes," William told him. "The new facility at Lodonia will be untraceable. We have several smaller facilities that the children will be relocated to for the next year or two while we smuggle them there."

"And where will I go?" Spence inquired.

"You will remain with Blue Team," William informed him. "Or, I should say, what's left of Blue Team."

Spence's eyes widened.

"You're going to begin the eliminations now?" Spence asked in a slightly hysterical tone.

"There's no way we can move nearly four thousand children out of here without leaving some sort of footprint," William informed Spence. "We have to reduce them to no more than one thousand. We will be left with the strongest and most potent trainees."

Spence moved his hands back over his hair, a struggle obviously going on within his mind.

"So we're just going to waste all of these lives?" he asked William. "I knew something like this was going to happen sooner or later, but on this scale?! It's slaughter! Can't we just leave them behind?"

"I can have someone take your place if you don't feel comfortable with these arrangements," William told him softly. "No one would hold it against you. Not even I."

"I will remain with my life's work," Spence declared to William. "But how can you do this? And to CHILDREN, no less?"

William sighed.

"It was not I who made the decision," he replied darkly. "I could never bring myself to kill, not on this large and pointless a scale. It was decided by the entirety of the organization."

Spence and William remained silent for the next few minutes.

"You said what remained of Blue Team," Spence said, breaking the silence. "If you intend to reduce the numbers down to one thousand, that means that roughly, only one quarter of the children are to succeed. Who in Blue Team do you believe will survive?"

"It will be either Sarik or the girl," William told Spence. "The other two are good, but I will arrange for all four of them to meet in combat at one point or the other. Eventually, it will be Sarik and the girl pitted against each other. They will decide."

"When do we start eliminations?" Spence asked.

"One week from now," William informed him. "Blue Team will be among the first groups to be tested and evacuated."

"Let me have the children everyday until then, no recovery time," Spence told William.

William saw a spark of compassion in the doctor's eyes. He understood his intentions.

"I was going to suggest such a plan of action," he told Spence. "But on the last day, they will go to Magner. Make sure they're healed enough to tough HER procedures out. And don't try anything stupid."

"There won't be any problems," Spence told William as he looked him in the eye. "They'll be better than new when I'm done with them."

"I'll hold you up to that," William challenged.

* * *

Sarik felt a little better after the checkup. For some reason, sleeping in that special bed always did. He just didn't like the fact that he was sealed in by a glass dome.

Today, the doctors had removed everyone else's bandages, and the incisions on their heads were fully healed. Not even scars were left. It amazed him how quickly the doctors were able to heal people here.

Now, he stood in the cafeteria's line, the length of it trailing into the facility's hallway. It seemed like new trainees were brought in every month, and their numbers had grown to ridiculous proportions. Luckily, Blue Team was one of the first groups in line, so he didn't have to wait long.

Sarik was searching for a table with relatively few people occupying it when he got a gut-wrenching feeling.

At a moment's notice, everything seemed amplified. Adrenaline did not slow time for Sarik as much as it increased how much he could perceive at once. He heard the clatter of silverware, noticed the individual specks of dust that swirled in the air as children rushed about, and a sound that horrified him: the sliding of a pistol's action and a round entering the chamber. Fractions of a second later, Sarik also heard the distinctive sound of knives being unsheathed from leather or vinyl.

Within a single second, Sarik had sprung into action. He tossed his tray with all of his might in the direction he heard the gun from. Children in its path threw themselves aside and were yelling, all except one. He merely stepped out of the path of destruction and revealed a short, metal object.

He pointed the pistol in Sarik's direction, but not straight at him. Sarik used his peripheral vision to calculate the path of the bullet. It would hit Stella, whose attention was turned to another boy a few meters away, his knife now revealed.

The gunman hesitated for a moment. Sarik used the distraction to lunge towards Stella, pushing her down and away from the bullet's path. He caught her by the back of her shirt, keeping her on her feet while he did what appeared to be a one-handed push-up.

Sarik's sudden movement caused the boy to shoot reflexively, but the space he was aiming at was now empty, and the 9mm bullet traveled forward, hitting a seven-year-old girl in the side.

Sarik was now in his battle mindset, no longer caring about anyone or anything excepting those he now sought to protect. He released Stella, then leaped from his crouch and sprinted forward, running in a wide curve towards the gunman.

The boy opened fire on him, but Sarik was traveling so fast that by the time his attacker fired, he was no longer occupying that space, and someone else received his fate. Some of the powerful rounds hit the other children in relatively harmless places, such as an arm or a leg. One boy was unfortunate enough to receive a round to the jaw as Sarik ran by. He was still alive, but his mouth hung open at a bloody and unnatural angle.

Sarik passed another child, a girl of about nine years of age. A shot meant for him hit her in the left side of the chest, knocking her onto her side. She hit the floor gasping for breath, but Sarik didn't notice. In his mind, right now, she was simply another statistic. She meant nothing to him.

Sarik ran up to the boy and stopped in front of him, almost tauntingly. Daring him to shoot. The boy pulled the pistol's trigger, but there was only a faint clicking sound. Fifteen spent brass casings littered the floor around him.

After giving the boy a moment to look in despair at the empty shells, Sarik hit him in the chest with a flat handed blow, forcing him up off the floor and sending him flying a couple meters through the air into the crowd of chaotic children. Sarik strolled forward into the mess to finish what he started.

The boy jumped to his feet and charged Sarik, this time prepared for anything. The boy threw a punch at him, which was blocked effortlessly. Sarik was careful with this one, because the boy was ten years old and at least fifteen kilograms heavier. Even with only a fraction of the modification procedures that Sarik had received, he had the potential to beat him in a contest of brute strength.

But Sarik did not falter, blocking blow after blow, some of them getting through, all of which were returned twofold.

Sarik was slowly being forced backwards by the assault, towards the rest of Blue Team, who were engaging Cyan team, all of whom were armed with combat knives. Sarik lost his focus for a second as he watched Stella take a blow to the face from one of the kinfe's hilts, and the other boy took advantage of it. He was knocked aside as the boy shoved past him, barreling towards Stella.

Sarik turned to run after him, but one of the knife-wielders disengaged Alex and charged Sarik.

But his objective was in danger. Stella was in danger. For some reason, this made Sarik angry. He was so frustrated because of this sudden moment of helplessness. In that moment, he snapped back into his trance, and did not stop his advance.

He charged head on with the boy who was coming at him with the knife. The boy sliced out at Sarik, but he bent back just slightly enough to avoid the weapon's bite. Sarik snapped forward like a rubber band and grabbed the boy's knife hand, then redirected the knife back towards his opponent's chest.

The boy looked in horror down at his chest, from which a knife held in his own grip now protruded. He didn't even have enough time to yell as Sarik twisted it and pushed his victim to the ground.

Sarik charged forward into the fray, where his teammates were attempting to fight off the remaining three assailants. The boy Sarik had fought earlier was all over Stella, and she was having a difficult time fending him off. As Sarik neared within a few meters, the boy swept Stella's feet from under her, then brought up his foot to smash down on her chest.

Sarik let out a yell as he barreled into the larger boy, knocking him to the ground. He attempted to restrain the boy from behind, but the older child was significantly larger than him, and easily threw Sarik aside as he attempted to right himself. The two began punching and kicking each other, wrestling for control.

Sarik almost panicked when the other fighter grabbed him around his body, pinning his arms at his sides. Sarik had never been trained for these sort of situations, only to avoid them. So he started to flail, and in his actions, hit the boy between his legs with one of his own.

Sarik straddled the boy as soon as he was released. The boy was moaning in agony, but Sarik knew it wouldn't be long before he was back in the fight. He was in his battle trance, and his training completely took over.

Sarik grabbed the boy around his throat and pinned his head to the floor. The boy gasped and brought his arm up to fend him off, but Sarik was adamant, no matter how hard the older child hit and pulled. This was a threat, and it had to be eliminated. The boy struggled, slowly becoming weaker. He attempted to force a breath one last time, then fell unconscious.

But Sarik held on. He kept his hands around the boy's throat. He held on for what felt like an eternity until the boy's body went limp. He relaxed his grip, and when he was sure the boy wasn't breathing, let go completely.

Sarik looked over towards the rest of the fight and watched Stella sneak up behind one of the boys who was fighting Grey and Alex. She grabbed the boy's head, and with one sharp movement, snapped it in the opposite direction. The boy went limp and collapsed to the floor. That's when something hit Sarik.

He looked down at his hands, which were covered with blood. He hadn't noticed that before. He looked down at the body beneath him and yelled in horror as he noticed it wasn't moving. He couldn't even see the boy's chest rise and fall as the child breathed.

Then, he remembered the fight. As he redirected the gunman away from Stella. As he stabbed the knife-wielder who attempted to distract him. As he strangled this boy to death.

As he truly realized what had just happened, Sarik began to cry and fell to the ground, sad and afraid once more.

* * *

Stella managed to get a grip on one of the attackers and, with one deft movement, twisted his head at an unnatural angle. He crumpled to the floor, unmoving.

A short distance from her, Alex was fighting another young boy about the same age as her, but after being freed up by Stella's actions, was quickly able to overpower with help from Grey. Grey struck the boy one last time in the back of the head and knocked him unconscious.

Stella grew concerned when she looked over in Sarik's direction. He was curled up in a ball and crying. She had never seen him like this. He always stronger than this.

She ran over to him, fearing that he had been hurt. When she saw the blood on his hands, she was even more concerned. She was soon joined by Grey and Alex.

"Sarik, what's wrong?" Grey asked him in a concerned tone.

Sarik ignored him and kept on wailing.

Grey walked over to Sarik and nudged him in the back with his foot, but Sarik either didn't feel it, or he was completely ignoring everything.

Grey backed off, figuring he could do little good at this point. It was Stella who tried to bring him to his senses. She simply knelt next to Sarik and put her small hand on his shoulder. It had worked with her before, so she hoped it would work with him.

Sarik shuddered when she touched him, then, in the same amount of time it took to blink, was on his feet. He seemed to have regained his composure almost instantly, and, except for the remains of tears underneath his eyes, looked as if nothing had transpired.

Within a minute of the fight's end, several guards ran in and swept the four children out of the cafeteria, who did not resist.

* * *

"Emotional breakdown?" Spence asked Magner.

"Perhaps, but I don't think so," the older women replied. "I believe that, despite his conditioning, Blue One has regrets over the fact that he has killed. He was unhurt, and all of his teammates remained uninjured through the entire ordeal. If he were to break emotionally, he would have done so much earlier. He has a personality far stronger than that."

Spence remained silent as he watched the video footage following the fight. The young girl bent down and simply touched him on the shoulder, and Sarik instantly regained his composure. Yet, the eldest of the group had attempted a similar feat and been unsuccessful. He wondered what the connection was.

"Did Blue One and Blue Two have any sort of association to each other prior to coming here?" Spence asked Magner.

"I don't see how," she answered. "Sarik has been at boarding school on the island of Britannia for the past three years, and Stella was in various orphanages located throughout Central Eurasia for the past two. The likelihood is extremely small."

"Yet they act with such familiarity," Spence thought aloud. "I would say almost like lovers, from what I've observed since their arrival, but that's impossible at their age. However, saying they act akin to siblings is an understatement."

"He is very protective of Stella," Magner stated. "And she has the maturity of someone several years her senior. It's no longer a mystery to me why the Director chose her as the target."

"I'm still disgusted," Spence told Magner.

"Then you should find a new line of work," Magner retorted.

Spence stood up and left the room without another comment. Perhaps he would. Perhaps he would...

* * *

Sarik was curled up in the corner of his cell, staring straight forward. He was incapable of sleeping, knowing he had done what he had.

After what seemed like hours, he heard the steel door that held him prisoner open. In stepped a middle-aged man, who closed the door behind him. Sarik found these circumstances odd, so he gave the man the courtesy of his attention. In his eyes, he detected some level of mildness.

The man leaned into the corner nearest to him and simply stared back for few moments, his expression saddening.

"Are you Sarik Ostheim?" he asked.

"Yes," Sarik replied emotionlessly.

"My name is Doctor Spence," he told Sarik.

Sarik simply stared.

"Do you know what's going on?" Spence asked Sarik. "Why we've been doing to you what we have?"

"You want soldiers who can fight Coordinators," Sarik replied.

"Yes," Spence said. "And no."

Spence let this set in for a moment.

"The people I work for want enforcers of their will," he admitted to Sarik. "If there were no Coordinators, they would simply find someone else to fight. They do not distinguish between Naturals or Coordinators, or ethnic origin, or gender, or religion. They simply want fighting."

"So why do they need me?" Sarik asked coldly.

"Because you have the potential to become the best," Spence told Sarik. "That's why I was sent here. To make that potential a reality."

Spence walked in front of Sarik and sat down cross-legged.

"I have come to understand that what I do is wrong," Spence confessed quietly. "And now, the people I work for want to take everything from you. Family, friends, freedom, everything."

"Haven't they already?" Sarik asked rhetorically.

"No, they haven't," Spence told Sarik. "They have yet to take your will, or your spirit. If they have their way, they will own both. You will not be able to question them."

"Then why bother telling?" Sarik asked. "It doesn't matter now."

Spence cringed internally at the truth of the remark.

"I came here to give you a choice," he informed Sarik. "I think you still have a small flame flickering within you, and if you give me a chance, I hope to turn it back into the fire that you had when you first came here."

Sarik uncurled and sat with his legs crossed, giving Spence his full attention.

"Your parents have found out about this place. Within the next two weeks, they will be coming here. Your brother wants me to take you and your team and put you through every procedure possible until then. Afterward, he will give you to that woman, and she will make everything you ever cared about disappear. She will make you forget, and take away your ability to choose."

"But I want to forget!" Sarik yelled him as he smashed his hand into the wall. "I killed! Two people!"

"Do you TRULY want that?" Spence asked. "What about your friends, what about your family, your parents?"

"I already have," Sarik told Spence. "I can't even hear my mother's voice, or see my father's face."

"Do you want to forget Stella?" he asked.

Sarik suddenly calmed and fell completely silent. He even seemed to have stopped breathing.

Spence smirked.

"So you do care about her," Spence stated.

"Yes," Sarik replied emotionlessly, breaking eye contact.

"Even more than the others?" Spence asked Sarik, already knowing the answer.

Sarik looked away in shame.

"Yes," he replied, an angry edge to his voice.

"Why?" Spence questioned. "How is she different from the others?"

"I just..." Sarik stuttered. "I just have to help her."

"Then, I can help you," Spence told Sarik.

Sarik returned to looking Spence in the eyes.

"I can place a safeguard around your memories and Stella's, at least of each other," Spence told Sarik. "And I can arrange for you two to get out of here. But you will have to be strong enough to remember, and strong enough to kill again. You may end up killing one hundred times more than you did today."

Sarik's expression didn't change.

"Will I have to kill again afterwards?" Sarik asked softly, emotion starting to fill his voice.

"I can make you no promises about that, but you will be free of your brother," Spence told Sarik. "After that, you and the girl will be allowed to choose for yourselves on how to proceed."

Sarik thought for a moment.

"Fine," he answered with a determined attitude.

Spence smiled weakly.

"All right, then here's what you have to do..."


	16. Chapter 15

**CE 74**

Sarik leaned casually into the corner of the officer's quarters, staring at the young Coordinator in front of him, who seemed completely content in continuing the contest.

Immediately after her capture, he had Sarah strip search the girl. What she discovered was a ridiculous amount of equipment whose purposes were often for use in assassinations and covert operations. Hidden in that red uniform of hers was a nine millimeter pistol with a silencer attachment, several knives of various sizes and uses, and a small autodermical filled with a powerful neuro-toxin. She was on more than a simple patrol mission, and her commanders obviously didn't want her to get captured alive. It was fortunate for him that she couldn't get to the poison before Sarah found it.

However, she had been unwilling to talk to anyone but him. Sarik had been reluctant to indulge her, but his gut kept telling him that her mission had something to do with either him or Stella.

"So exactly how old are you Miss Raider?" Sarik asked of the small girl sitting on a bed in front of him, already knowing the answer.

"Twelve, nineteen, sixteen, does it really matter?" she replied.

"My initial guess was fifteen, but I'm thinking that you're what, fourteen?" he remarked. "I always seem to be a year or two ahead when guessing someone's age."

Anika pursed her lips and broke eye contact. Sarik smirked, annoying the child.

"Now my question is, what is such a young girl doing in the military?" Sarik inquired

"I'm doing my duty to my people," she replied somewhat convincingly.

"To your people, or to your Chairman?" Sarik questioned.

Anika returned her gaze to Sarik, though she betrayed no emotions.

"Don't think I didn't do my research," Sarik taunted. "I know ALL about you. Your father and Durandal were old pals. From what I understand, your father was murdered by Blue Cosmos prior to your family's immigration to the PLANTs. Knowing that, it doesn't take much to figure out why joined the military. I'm thinking that the Chairman gave you a helping hand along the way, and so you are repaying him with your complete, unquestioning loyalty. As a result, he made you a part of his special goon squad."

"Do you have any evidence of this?" Anika inquired with a smirk on her face. "I'm not a member of FAITH. My records are proof of that."

"I'm not as stupid as I look," Sarik informed her. "You don't send an AWACS configured mobile suit to patrol an out of the way route unless you're looking for something. You work for Durandal, and I have something he wants. What is it?"

"I think we're done here," Anika told him.

Sarik let his body relax as he sighed, then suddenly bolted forward, catching the girl unaware. In less than a second, he had crossed the small room and formed a vice around the young girl's throat with his hand.

"Don't mistake me for being either stupid or soft," he warned her coldly, squeezing slightly. "If you try anything foolish while you are in my custody, do not think I will hesitate to kill you simply because of your age."

And as quickly as he had grabbed her, Sarik released Anika and limped out of the room. She rubbed her throat for a moment, then fell backwards onto the bed with a sigh.

* * *

Sarik quickly walked to the bridge, where both Sarah and Stella were waiting. The _Ares_ was about fifteen minutes from the SSI flagship headquarters in Orb, and he had no intention of missing this landing.

Sarik entered and quickly buckled himself into the seat next to Sarah on the observation deck. After he was secure, he glanced over at Stella, taking note of the fact that the color in her skin was already coming back and that she seemed more alert than before. This indicated that she was probably off of the heavy-duty painkillers by now, meaning that she had to be enduring a great level of discomfort, even though she hid it. Sarik also took note of the IV that was still in her arm, pumping a combination of saline, heated fluids, and regeneratives into her body. The young doctor aboard the _Ares_ had felt it was better to be safe than sorry, considering that she had been clinically dead only a day and a half ago.

Sarik remained silent as the _Ares_ made its final approach on SSI's primary cargo plane runway. The 150 meter long carrier was landed gracefully by the pilot, who made skillful use of the airship's hover jets, touching down safely just a few dozen meters outside of the hangar, nearly giving some of its occupants heart attacks.

Sarik unbuckled himself and immediately took a position at Stella's side as Sarah helped her out of her seat. Outside, if everything was going according to plan, a medical team and an emergency transport awaited to move her to the main facility. The scans that the doctor aboard the _Ares_ had performed revealed that Stella's body was filled with deadly shrapnel, though in what quantity, they were not able to determine. The regeneratives Sarik had provided her upon revival had slowed the shrapnel's progress and repaired the damage it had done up to that point, but during the trip back to Orb, the pieces had slowly begun to penetrate deeper into her body. If the shrapnel wasn't removed within a few days, a slow, painful death was imminent.

Sarik strolled protectively behind Stella as Sarah directed them down the ship's corridors, alert for any dangers. They soon entered the ship's elevator, which dropped them down to the boarding ramp that was now extended underneath the ship. They were immediately caught up in a mob of engineers, repair and maintenance crews, and a medical staff. Stella tensed and began falling into a fighting stance when they started pulling on her and yelling questions, but Sarik placed his hand on her shoulder, and she remained calm. Soon enough, they had her strapped onto a gurney in the medical transport, which then began its rush to the main facility.

Sarik became slightly unsettled when a doctor walked into the back from the front of the vehicle and began preparing a number of syringes for injection. He hated needles with a passion, whether they were intended for him or not.

"What's this?" Sarik inquired.

"Doctor Walters's orders," the young doctor replied. "He wants to begin surgery right away, but he seems to be under the impression that we can't safely place her under anesthesia. We have to get these sedatives in her now if they're to be in effect when we arrive."

Sarik scowled, but quickly relaxed. When the doctor walked over with a few syringes, he noticed that Stella was beginning to tense up again. She probably had as much of a phobia of needles as he did, most likely a result of the experiments performed on them at the Blue Cosmos facility. Sarik reached over and grabbed her hand, but she didn't fully relax until the doctor finished the series of injections. After the man finished injecting the sedatives, he replaced the bags on Stella's drip line with fresh ones and returned to the front of the vehicle, feeling unwelcome in the current environment.

Stella soon relaxed into the gurney, her body no longer able to hold itself up. Sarik continued to hold her hand, even though she could no longer feel it. She looked over at him and smiled as much as her body would allow and opened her mouth to speak, but all that left was an incoherent moan.

"We'll have plenty of time to talk later," Sarik assured her, though no emotion colored his voice.

Stella gave him face that he recognized from during their short time together at the Blue Cosmos facility. It was the same face she had used to silently ask him on multiple occasions, "Do you promise?" Sarik nodded his head slightly, replying, "Yes."

And with that, Stella returned her gaze upward for the rest of the ride.

As soon as the transport arrived at SSI headquarters, they were once again swarmed by facility staff and doctors. Among them was Doctor Walters. As he arrived, the crowd calmed enough for his voice to be heard.

"Is this the Extended?" he asked Sarik.

"Yes," he replied.

The doctor looked off to one of the doctors among the crowd.

"Get her to the O.R.," he told her, then turned his attention to the man obviously in charge of security. "No one but my medical staff is to get with ten meters of this girl. Am I understood?"

The security guard simply unlatched the cover on his gun holster.

Stella was quickly wheeled off, and Sarik was forced to let go of her hand.

"Now Sarik, I have a separate room ready for you," Walters told him as he stopped him from following. "We need to get your leg fixed up for the meeting."

"I'm not doing anything until I know Stella's fine," he informed Walters coldly.

"Now is not the time for your personal emotions to get in the way," Walters scolded Sarik softly.

"Notwithstanding, I'm going with her," Sarik replied adamantly before walking off in the direction of the medical staff. After a couple of meters, he began sprinting in order to catch up, and started to realize how truly significant the injury really was.

* * *

"Stubborn as ever," Walters remarked.

He and Sarah were the only ones left at the location of the medical transport, and she thought they looked almost like idiots, just standing there as it drove off.

Walters let out a sigh, then looked over at his wife.

"Are you alright, Blossom?" he asked playfully as he put a hand on her shoulder. "I heard about what happened."

"I'm fine," she replied softly, grasping his hand as she did. "Sarik and the pilots did a fine job protecting the _Ares_."

"I'm glad to hear," Walters said, then pecked Sarah on the lips. "Once again, I owe him my gratitude, and more."

Sarah blushed as he committed that act. She wasn't one for public displays, at least not anymore. She found it slightly immature in all but the most exceptional cases.

"Don't expect him to come collecting any time soon," Sarah informed him. "What you and I consider as remarkable is something that he considers routine and necessary."

"You give him too much credit," Walters told his wife. "He's a kid, not a robot."

"I think you underestimate him," Sarah replied.

"And I think your relationship with him clouds your judgment," Walters observed with a hint of concern.

Sarah scowled at him, which was returned with another peck on the lips.

"I have to go," Walters told her.

"I know," Sarah responded.

They hugged quickly, then Walters walked briskly back towards the entrance to the facility. Sarah quickly headed of in another direction. There were things she needed to arrange.

* * *

Sarik followed the crowd of medical staff as best as he could. Everyone was moving at a pace that he found slightly inconvenient to keep up with.

"How long will this take?" Sarik asked the woman who appeared to be in charge.

"We're not completely sure," she replied. "The medical equipment aboard the _Ares_ is out of date, to say the least. We have to put the patient through another series of scans to pinpoint where we'll have to operate."

"What do we know at present?" Sarik questioned.

"We know that there's enough shrapnel for several fragmentation grenades embedded in her dermal layer, and the scans aboard the _Ares_ showed progressive damage from its continual movement. It appears that the shrapnel is being pulled towards her heart."

"I understand that, but what about her internals? Doctor Walters spoke of bruising on her organs a couple days ago."

"That's why she can't go under anesthesia. If she were, she might end up comatose or dead."

Sarik remained silent as he brooded on his actions. It had been REALLY stupid of him to knock her out that way.

"Sir, please put these on if you're to accompany us further," a medical assistant requested, who holding up a neatly folded set of surgical clothing to Sarik.

Sarik slipped on the top and managed to stumble into the pants as they walked along.

They soon arrived at an airlock-like mechanism in the medical wing of the facility. Part of the staff moved off to other parts of the facility to attend to their next assignments as the rest entered. The door was sealed shut behind them, and the room began to fill with aerosol disinfectants and decontaminates. A minute later, a computer scanned the small chamber and, after determining potential contaminants were at a minimum, allowed the group to proceed. Sarik stayed at Stella's side until she was lifted off the gurney and onto an extended examination table from one of the machines dominating the room. He remained nearby until it pulled her into the machine.

"Sir, could you please come with me?" asked one of the doctors.

Sarik followed her to the back of the room, where a small sealed compartment was located. Sarik walked in, and one of the nurses closed the door.

"Initiate the CT scan," the female doctor ordered.

Moments later, the computer had compiled a complete cross-section of Stella's internals. The technology used now was far more advanced than it was when the concept was first applied in the medical field, allowing extremely accurate and detailed three-dimensional scanning.

"Good thing we didn't do an MRI," the doctor remarked, pointing at a large piece of shrapnel three centimeters long lodged in the back of Stella's ribcage.

"How soon can we start?" Sarik asked, even more concerned now that he knew how truly volatile the situation was. As the cross-section rotated, he could identify hundreds of fragments ranging in size from half a millimeter to a centimeter long, and some appeared to have begun pushing on her organs.

"We'll start as soon as Doctor Walters arrives," the doctor answered. "He's the one who specializes in the unique cases.

As Sarik and the medical staff were removing Stella from the scanning equipment, Doctor Walters strolled into the airlock, was quickly sprayed down, and walked on through. He was already dressed in sterile medical clothing.

"Well then, let's get started, now that I'm here," he said enthusiastically.

"If you'll come right this way," the young female doctor told Walters.

Sarik stayed with Stella as they rolled her gurney over to the operating table, then helped the staff as she was carefully lifted onto it. Once rested, she tried to look over at Sarik, but the drugs that were being injected into her body had almost completely paralyzed her motor skills.

"Don't," Sarik told her almost sternly as he brushed a finger on across her cheek. To someone else, it might have sounded cold, ridiculing, but neither of them took it that way.

A few minutes later, Walters walked over with an air of optimism.

"Let us begin," Walters said.

"And don't worry," he assured Sarik in a low voice. "She's survived this much. I don't think there's a doctor in the world who could kill her."

* * *

Sarah watched intently as her husband performed procedure after procedure on Stella's fragile body. It had been nearly two hours since the operation had begun, and everything was going surprisingly well. Sarik had remained nearby as long as he was able, only moving when he became an obstruction. By now, the medical team had worked their way down to Stella's lower body, and they had set up a curtain for her convenience, as it was unsettling to watch one's body be cut into, whether you could feel it or not.

Sarah had a particularly solemn look on her face, as she had recently been provided with a disturbing revelation. A detailed report of the incident in Eurasia had made its way to SSI, and everyone in a significant position within the corporation could be affected. The entire file sat on her lap, which she had obtained shortly after the recent defense of the _Ares_.

It had been confirmed by their sources in ZAFT and the the Atlantic Federation that the attackers who destroyed Berlin were from the Earth Forces, a particularly infamous and secretive unit known as the 81st Autonomous Mobile Group. They used a new mobile armor designated the GFAS-X1 "Destroy" in order to complete their mission. Normally, SSI wouldn't worry itself over such matters unless there was something to be gained from their meddling. This time, they had been meddled with.

Several of the systems used aboard the machine were derivatives of SSI designed and patented technology. This most likely meant that there was a mole within the company, either a high-ranking member within one of their research teams, or a member on the Board, who was leaking their military secrets, most of which not even the country of Orb knew about. It had to be someone higher up, as everyone involved in such projects always had someone trusted watching them, for both their personal safety and security reasons. Only someone on the administrative level would have evaded notice.

Sarah sighed to herself, as she knew what was going to happen as soon as Sarik found out. He was going to load up the first transport ready and fly out to Eurasia in order to examine the wreckage personally. After failing at his attempts to ease his conscious, he would then remain there until the damage done was repaired. And if he ever returned, he would be in a horrible state of depression, and start making rash and ridiculous decisions. She had seen similar things happen happen countless times before. Except this time, he would have an entire corporation to do so with.

Sarah set the files she held down on the coffee table within the observation room and waited for that time to come.

* * *

"Well, looks like our work here is done," Walters remarked as the table slid Stella out of the CT scanner.

"So what now?" Sarik asked.

"We'll stitch her up and hit her with every painkiller that we have," Walters replied. "She's going to have a lot of fun for the next month or so."

"What about regeneratives?" Sarik asked. "Wouldn't they allow her to heal quickly?"

"We can arrange for her to get therapy, but I would really prefer her not to," Walters stated. "I know there's no side-effects, as far as we know, but I just can't fathom how it's good on the human body to force an accelerated metabolism over prolonged periods of time."

"We'll let Stella decide after she's been properly informed of the cirsumstances," Sarik informed him.

"Very well," Walters complied.

"I.I..st...here," Stella stammered.

Both Sarik and Walters both looked down at her in horror. In order for her to have regained the motor skills to talk, one of two things must happen. Either the sedatives were running out, or her body was resisting them.

Sarik looked over at the IV rack, but everything appeared to be working.

"Doctor?" Sarik asked, concern at the edge of his normally controlled voice.

"Put the patient on morphine immediately," Walters ordered, hoping the ancient remedy would work.

Walters pulled a pad out from his pocket and began writing something on it, then yanked out the top strip of paper and handed it to Sarik. Sarik stared at Walters for a moment in confusion, then looked down at the piece of paper. He recognized it to be a prescription form, filled out for a high dosage of time release form of morphine. He would know. He had used it countless times before while he was recovering from certain injuries that he had received in past years.

"What am I supposed to do with this?" Sarik questioned, handing the prescription back to Walters.

"I assumed you were the girl's benefactor, so I thought it was appropriate for you to take responsibility for her medical needs," Walters replied.

"Who said I was taking care of her?" Sarik asked.

The doctor thought for a moment, then replied with a simple shrug.

"Fine," Sarik sighed, snatching the prescription and pocketing it. He would have Sarah take it in while he went through his own surgery.

"Now that she's fine, will you please let me take care of your leg?" Walters asked Sarik.

"Yes," he replied coldly. "Let me meet with Sarah real quick, first."

Sarik put his hand on Stella's shoulder once more, which she was able to respond to this time. She reached up and grazed his hand, from which Sarik snatched his hand away reflexively.

"Let's go," Sarik told Walters, then limped off in the direction of the exit.

* * *

Sarah placed more of the room's effects into the plastic crate. She had been clearing up this particular room for Stella for the past hour, trying to make sure she found and stored everything that had belonged to the room's previous sole inhabitant. He wasn't going to be happy about the arrangements, so the least she could do was make things as simple as possible.

Sarah felt around underneath the bed's mattress and, as she had predicted, found another gun. The fifth one so far, and she had a feeling she wasn't even halfway through.

* * *

Sarik flexed his leg, feeling no pain, only stiffness.

"You always have done a good job," Sarik commented. "Thank you, Doctor."

Doctor Walters had been operating on his leg for the past hour, repairing the bits of damaged bone and muscle in his leg with artificially grown replacements. With a little regenerative therapy thrown into the mix, no one would be able to tell that he had been in a gunfight a day earlier.

"I know how the Board is," Walters told Sarik. "They can smell blood in the water. One sign of weakness and they'll pounce all over you. It was the same with your father."

Sarik frowned at the mention of his deceased parent. It was not a frown of sorrow, but disdain.

"I don't even understand why I have to keep them around," Sarik stated. "I am in all technicality the sole owner of this company."

"Your parents knew that you wouldn't be able to run the corporation on your own," Walters reminded him. "Frankly, no one can."

"Well, I only have to keep them around until I'm twenty-one," Sarik remarked. He flexed his leg once more, then leaped off the operation table. He landed as softly as possible, but pain still jarred up his leg as he did.

"I still wouldn't do anything too strenuous for the next two to three days," Walters suggested.

"Noted," Sarik replied as he reformed his composure, standing with his back straight and his head high.

"You know that the show is not necessary around nobodies," Walters remarked.

"And who's the nobody in my presence?" Sarik asked in all seriousness.

"I'm expendable," Walters pointed out. "My own wife could fire me if it came to it."

"Never going to happen," Sarik told him. "If not for your personality, then definitely for your skills and abilities."

Walters smirked, then walked off towards the door.

"Well, you're good to go," he informed Sarik. "Any projects you have for me?"

"Actually, there is," Sarik replied quietly as he walked up to Walters.

Walters nodded his head and visibly gave Sarik his full attention.

"I want you to look into an improved version of the drug you developed for me, " Sarik said. "Tailored specifically to Stella's body's needs. No one except for Sarah can know about it."

Walters nodded his head.

"I'll make it my top priority," he complied. "It would be a shame to see the poor thing in discomfort."

"Agreed," Sarik sighed before leaving.

* * *

Sarik was walking into his quarters in order to change when he noticed a pile of small plastic crates sitting outside of his door. After staring for a moment, he decided to think nothing of it as he walked into the front room, which was immaculate, as usual.

He strolled into a dressing closet in the back of the living space, changed into some more formal clothing, and left immediately afterwards. Never once did he notice the fact that his bedroom's door was closed, which it never was, nor the fact that there was another pile of crates sitting behind the couch.

* * *

The recently appointed director of intelligence waited anxiously for the president to arrive. Ostheim was over three hours late, and by now, the director could almost smell the negative emotions in the air: anger, stress, fear. The recent revelations made in Eurasia were extremely troubling for any who knew what was truly going on in the world.

As the director was about to send for a messenger, Sarik Ostheim walked into the meeting room, the air about him arrogant, as usual.

"Let us proceed," Sarik said as he sat down at the head of the giant table.

The director was impressed. The boy had come here dressed in as little as a flight suit before. This time he had actually graced them with business attire.

"Sir, we first have a few questions to ask," said the director of public relations, James Carren.

"Go on," Sarik said.

"Are you familiar with our Applied Plasma Technologies Research Project?" Carren questioned.

Carren hit a button on a remote in front of him, causing the lights in the meeting room to darken, and the large screen at the back of the room began displaying various files and images from the project. Sarik observed the slide show for a moment, reviewing relevant pieces of information.

"Yes," Sarik replied. "I was heavily involved during phase three, which was the optimization of our electromagnetic technologies for better plasma concentration. I also participated late in phase one, where we identified several isotopes that were particularly easy to produce mechanically and then convert to the plasma stage."

"So, I would assume, that you have a clear understanding of the military applications of plasma technologies and their destructive capabilities," Carren stated, not asking.

Carren hit a button on his remote, and a video began playing itself out. There were several men, including Sarik, standing around a gargantuan device that looked remotely like a water pumping station without pipes. After a few minutes of adjusting various systems, the team's members donned shaded visors and stepped back. One of the technicians began activating the device, and seconds later, a green beam shot out from a projector and made contact with the contact component of the machine, creating a sort of conduit. Things were looking worrisome, as the beam instantly began fluctuating and was even bending at places, but after the first minute and a series of adjustments, it straightened out into a perfect, smooth cylinder.

"That particular experiment was used to determine whether or not power transfer could efficiently be made with energy-based technologies only," Sarik explained. "Later, it was discovered that we had neither equipment nor the technology to produce equipment durable enough to do so for extended periods of time, thus it was not practical for mass-production."

"But the concept could easily be re-applied as a weapon, correct?" Carren asked accusingly.

"Yes," Sarik answered, betraying no emotions.

"Are you also familiar with our various Applied Particle Weapons projects?" he asked rhetorically.

"Yes," Sarik replied, a little edge on his voice. "You very well know that I worked in the theoretical division after the last war. Our surveys from the last war had revealed that standard ship-based particle weaponry had a difficult time hitting their targets at the extreme ranges of ship-to-ship combat, much less damaging them. The project's weapons never made it to the mass-production prototype stage when we finally determined how truly powerful the devices we were designing could be. But how is that project relevant here?"

"I think that the director of intelligence, Arturo Shekrov, would do a better job at explaining the situation," Carren said.

Shekrov stood up and began his presentation.

* * *

Sarik despaired internally as he watched the footage of the Destroy in action. How it would move into a city and obliterate everything, seemingly indestructible as it did so, no force able to stand up to it. He cringed internally as it fired its four super-cannons, destroying a ZAFT fortress with a single attack.

As teams of mobile suits converged on it, the battle's horrible grand finale began. Twenty guns along the machine's rim lined up and fired, emitting sickly green beams that cut through buildings, destroyed mobile units, and incinerated people, both civilian and military, by the thousands.

Then, as if nothing happened, it floated away towards its next target.

Sarik watched the footage for a good hour before the final pieces were presented. The attack on Berlin.

The mobile armor moved in on the city, this time up against a somewhat more organized defense. But it did not matter. The machine's positron deflectors prevented any attacks from making it through, and nothing, not particle beams, not hyper-velocity slugs, not concentrated missile barrages, could harm it. Soon after, the Destroy's weapons cut through the city, turning the battle into a slaughter like before, obliterating anything and everything.

But then, a new force set out against this monstrosity. The Freedom, a nuclear-powered mobile suit piloted by ace Kira Yamato in the last war, dove in from nowhere, attacking the Destroy with its beam weaponry, though to no avail.

Soon after, something extraordinary and awesome happened. The Destroy's frame began shifting, and it transformed from a saucer-shaped abomination to a form that had become infamous on the battlefield in recent times.

A Gundam.

Sarik watched in grievance as the Destroy's chest cannons charged and fired at the Freedom. However, the mobile suit was too fast and maneuverable for the mobile armor's weapons to keep up with, and the cannons' beams swept through the city, incinerating dozens of square kilometers of buildings, civilians and soldiers surely among them.

The Freedom attempted to move in on the Destroy once more, but it was stopped by fire from a customized Windam and the Chaos, a Gundam that was stolen by the Earth Forces from ZAFT. The _Archangel_, one of the most famous ships during both wars and the Freedom's apparent carrier, took this opportunity to join the fray, opening fire with its particle beam cannons. But, as with the Freedom's attacks, they were stopped short by the Destroy's seemingly impenetrable defenses.

Then, the hands on the Destroy detached, and FLEW at the Freedom. The weapons had a beam cannon equipped in each finger, and fired together in a pattern that few pilots could avoid. Yet, the Freedom somehow managed to dodge the assault, and was even able to return several shots at the weapons, though the attacks were stopped by the positron deflectors mounted on the mobile turrets.

Later on in the battle, three Murasames and the Strike Rouge, which was, in the last war, piloted by Orb's current Chief Representative, Cugali Yula Autha, who was currently reported missing, launched from the _Archangel_ and joined the Freedom.

After a few more minutes of battle, the camera shifted to another vantage point, and another force was shown joining the battlefield. The ZAFT battleship _Minerva_, having just arrived, launched a series of modules that soon combined to form the mobile suit that had landed by the lake.

Sarik continued to watch as the mobile suit flew in at the Destroy, using similar tactics as the Freedom's pilot, and failing just as badly in damaging the machine. But then, undeterred, the Gundam charged head on with the monstrosity, dropping its rifle and drawing out a beam saber.

The ZAFT Gundam sped in, moving past the shields before they could activate, and sliced directly into the Destroy, exposing the cockpit. The Destroy's pilot reacted badly to this, firing every weapon that he could, obliterating everything around the behemoth except for the mobile suits and the battleships in the air, whose maneuvers just barely avoided the barrage.

The ZAFT Gundam, after dodging the Destroy's rampant attack, flew in for another attack, but was knocked aside by the custom Windam. Sarik was intrigued by this, as for the next few seconds, the mobiles suits, obviously on opposing sides, floated there, as if the pilots were in deep conversation.

The Freedom moved in on the handicapped Destroy, firing its hip-mounted rail guns at the cockpit. Explosions wracked the machine, and the pilot, if not dead, had to be wounded by now, though the monstrosity still floated erect.

Seconds later, the Windam broke off from the ZAFT Gundam and charged at the Freedom. Its pilot bravely and skillfully tossed an anti-armor knife at the superior machine, which stuck in the Freedom's shield and exploded, destroying the defense. But it was at a sacrifice, as the Freedom unsheathed one of its beam sabers and dismembered the Windam's arms and striker pack, which was supporting its ability to fly. The Windam fell to the earth, eventually skidding to a stop, the machine totaled.

Sarik continued to watch the battle unfold. The Chaos attempted to retreat after the Windam went down, but it, too, met a similar fate when the three Murasames surrounded it and pummeled it with beam rifle fire. The mobile suit's flight systems were destroyed, and as it fell towards the ground, the lead Murasame unsheathed a beam saber and cut the machine into two, clean portions. As if to add to the drama, the Chaos's halves exploded like a display of fireworks.

The Freedom moved in on the Destroy once more, but was forced back by the shields that were somehow still functioning. As the Freedom attempted to retreat, the ZAFT Gundam struck out at it with its beam saber. Sarik was intrigued by this. Either this pilot didn't know where his loyalties belonged, or there was a lot more going on than most could perceive.

Under inaccurate fire from the Destroy, the ZAFT Gundam slowly flew forward. After a moment, the barrage slackened, then abruptly ended. There was a moment of peace, and the battle seemed over. But then, the Destroy's main cameras flashed, and every weapon on board the mobile armor began charging. As the chest cannons were about to fire, the Freedom dove in and stabbed the center weapon with its beam saber, followed by another saber right next to it. Explosions wrack the Destroy, and it began to crash to the Earth, firing the beam cannon in its head as it did, the final roar of a dying animal.

The Freedom, Murasames, and Strike Rouge returned to the _Archangel_, which quickly abandoned the battlefield. But the ZAFT Gundam stayed. It circled around the site of the Destroy's wreckage and landed in front of it before the presentation went black.

As the ZAFT mobile suit landed, Sarik finally understood. He now understood that the horrible humor of fate had not provided him a golden opportunity at redemption. He had rescued a killer, a monster. And she probably didn't even know it.

But perhaps she knew the pilot. Perhaps, one day, he could learn why that boy had bothered to try and save her, after every everything she had committed.

* * *

Sarah waited outside of the meeting room, stressing over what was going to happen in the next five minutes.

Her dears were soon realized when the doors flew open and Sarik stormed out, walking briskly. He began moving down the corridors towards the facility's garage.

Sarah had to run to catch up with him, doing her best to keep at his side.

"Sarah, I want you to have the _Ares_ and ten transports ready to go as soon as possible," Sarik ordered.

"I had the _Ares_ begin preparations for flight immediately after we returned," she informed him. "I also had ten transports filled with humanitarian aid supplies. There's an additional two personnel transports simply waiting to be filled."

"Thank you," Sarik courtesied in a tone that indicated the complete opposite. Malice permeated from his very being.

"Why didn't you tell me?" he asked accusingly a few minutes later, not once averting his gaze towards her.

"I told you before, you don't need to be stressing over things until you have to," Sarah replied in a caring, almost motherly tone. "You had more important things to do than to run away on another quest of reconciliation."

Sarik stopped looked her in the eye.

"You're not my mother," he said in the coldest, most accusing tone he could. "Remember that."

Then, he ran off. She knew he was gone now.

Sarah wiped away a small tear forming in her eye, then followed after him. Stella was still waiting.

* * *

Stella sat where she had been told to by that lady. Sarik was supposed to come see her, but it had been what seemed hours. When was she going to get a chance to thank him?

She snapped out of her thoughts when she heard heavy footsteps coming down the hall. Stella looked up and saw Sarik walking in her direction, almost running.

She attempted to stand up, but she did it too quickly, and the pain forced her back down. Underneath the extremely modest clothes that had been loaned to her from that lady, most of her body was wrapped in bandages. It was extremely difficult to move, even putting the pain aside.

She pouted when Sarik walked right past her, not even bothering to glance in her direction. It was as if he didn't even notice her.

A moment later, the lady came walking down the corridor, right towards Stella.

"Time to go," the lady told Stella.

Stella nodded and attempted to stand, a bit more cautious this time, but she locked up from the pain and slammed back down onto her seat.

The lady sighed, then pulled an autodermical from her pocket. She grabbed Stella's arm and pressed it against an exposed section of her skin. A few seconds later, Stella was hurting less, and was able to stand. The pain was by no means gone, but it was far more bearable.

The lady capped and replaced the syringe in her pocket, then pulled a prescription bottle out and opened it.

"Swallow this and come with me," she ordered Stella impatiently, handing her a pill of some sort.

Stella did as instructed, then followed the lady down the corridors. At least the woman was kind enough to slow down.

* * *

Sarik sped down the highway recklessly. The wind was playing havoc with his suit, but it didn't matter. He could die driving this fast on his motorcycle, but he did not care.

He glanced down at his speedometer, which showed he had just accelerated past two hundred kilometers per hour. If he wrecked now, death would be almost guaranteed.

_How could this happen?_ he questioned.

How could his designs, his only notable work, have ended up in the hands of those bastards? Why did they have to re-purpose benign technology into a terror weapon used to kill millions? And why did they have to put one of his most beloved friends at its helm?

_If I hadn't failed her to begin with, this would have NEVER happened, _Sarik thought irrationally.

Sarik brooded as he drove on, not once having a close call. His enhanced reflexes almost guaranteed that he wouldn't wreck, even at these ridiculous speeds.

A mile down the highway, he spotted a large transport truck steaming up the road. He swerved into the other lane. Maybe, he should end it all now. It would be painless, instant. No more concerns. No more responsibility. No more guilt.

Sarik snapped out of his pessimistic thoughts as an image appeared in his head. An image of a young woman with short, blond hair filled his mind.

Sarik swerved back into his lane, though he was nowhere near colliding with the transport. Maybe, just maybe, he had one last thing to take care of before it all had to end.

* * *

Stella stepped out of the vehicle onto the blacktop. The driver had rushed her and that lady here, so obviously something important was about to happen.

She followed the woman to a building nearby, a terminal of some sort. They walked inside and down a short hallway.

The sight she beheld a moment later was amazing. Sitting on the runway in front of them was a large ship of some sort. While the basic design was that of an airplane, it was for more sleek, like an over-sized fighter, and the fuselage was bristling with well-maintained weaponry. On the underside of the vehicle was a ramp, where crew members were boarding and equipment was being loaded.

Stella limped up to the large window and braced herself on the glass. The ship was elegant, beautiful. This was the important thing.

"Could someone please locate President Ostheim?" the lady asked one of the men in the room.

"I'm sorry ma'am, but he's already boarded, and the _Ares_ will be taking off in just a moment," one of the operators replied.

As if on cue, an alarm went off somewhere, and people started scrambling about. Within thirty seconds, the runway was completely empty except for the trolleys.

"This is Director Walters," the lady said into a radio she acquired from one of the terminal's staff. "Put me through to the President."

* * *

Sarik stood proud and erect on the bridge in his black, crimson-trimmed flight suit, watching the now-complete crew prepare the airship for launch. Now, they were showing their training, expertly executing checklists and efficiently activating the carrier's systems.

"Sir, we'll be on our way within the minute," the bridge commander informed Sarik.

"Carry on," Sarik replied.

Sarik took his seat on the observation platform and was about to strap himself in when he heard some sort of commotion going on between the communications officer and an unknown antagonist.

"What's the problem?" Sarik asked as he rose from his seat.

"Sir, there's a woman on the other end of the line wanting to speak with you," he told Sarik.

"I already told you that I don't wish to have contact with anyone right now," Sarik reminded him.

"That's what I told her, but she insists that she'll have my job if she doesn't speak with you."

Sarik sighed and took the headset from officer, then clipped it to his ear and moved off towards the edge of the bridge.

"I have nothing further to say to you, Sarah," Sarik informed her in voice low enough that no one else could hear.

"It's not me who wants to speak," she replied. "Walk to the window facing the terminal."

Sarik did so reluctantly, then peered out towards the terminal, looking for someone out of the ordinary in the observation area.

Standing there was Stella, staring out of the window at the _Ares_'s bridge. She was holding a hand to the window. Sarah walked up next to Stella and held the headset to her ear.

"Hey," Sarik said casually into the headpiece.

"Thank...you," Stella replied.

Sarik was surprised. Sarah had brought her all this way, just so she could say those two words? Part of him thought it was a complete waste of time. The other part was dumbstruck and happy.

"Take care of yourself while I'm gone, okay?" Sarik said as he placed his own hand on the bridge's view port. "Stay alive for me."

Sarik concentrated, and he noticed Stella nod her head ever so slightly. No Natural would have noticed it unless they were standing a few centimeters in front of her.

Sarik suddenly lost his balance as the trolleys forced the _Ares_ forward. Sarik regained his composure, then stared back at the terminal.

"You come back, all right?" Sarah ordered Sarik.

"You're very good at blackmail, you know that?" he commented.

Even from this distance, Sarik could tell Sarah's expression was not a good one.

"I promise," Sarik told her in the most assuring voice that he was capable of.

Sarik thought he caught Sarah smirking as he lost view of the terminal.

* * *

Stella watched as the _Ares_ was carefully towed down the runway. A few minutes later, the trolleys detached, and the airship jolted forward under its own power.

She stood there for a moment, watching the carrier speed off into the distance, followed by an entire convoy of transport planes.

Stella didn't worry. He was coming back. He always kept his promises.


	17. Chapter 16

**CE 63**

He woke up, laying awkwardly on a bed. _Bed_. Was that what it was called? He wasn't sure. He didn't even know how he knew the words that he was thinking in.

After pushing the sheets off of his body, he sat up and carefully surveyed his surroundings. He was in some sort of a..._room_. At least, he thought that's what it was called. Again, he didn't know how or why he knew this.

He swept his legs off the side of the bed and let himself fall the remaining centimeters to the ground. As he fell, he realized something.

HE didn't have a name. He didn't know anything, yet for some reason, he felt that he should. Who was he? Where was he? What WAS a name?

After a moment's contemplation, he decided to walk towards a large, metal rectangle set in the wall. A _door_, he believed it was called. Protruding from it was a small knob located about halfway up the frame. A memory suddenly flashed in his mind, and he fell to his knees, holding his head. That single flashback caused him a great deal of pain, though for what reason, he could not fathom.

After the headache subsided, he walked up to the door and, just as he had done in the memory, twisted the knob. Something clicked, and the door creaked ajar. He pushed the loosened door open and cautiously stepped through.

He nearly fell into some sort of a defensive position out of habit when he spotted a man that he felt he should have known. A tall, older man. The man looked down at him and smiled slightly. _Smile_? How did he know what that was?

"Hello, young one," the man said. "How was your rest?"

The boy stood there, silent, trying to come up with the proper response. This was some sort of a..._test_.

"Fine," he replied without knowing the actual meaning of the word. It just seemed the most appropriate answer.

"Do you remember anything that happened yesterday?" the man questioned.

The boy stared back at him, not understanding. _Yesterday_? What was a yesterday? Was it like a day?

"Yesterday?" the boy asked.

The man's smile grew.

"Do you remember anything?" the man inquired.

_Remember_. He knew what that word meant. It meant...

_Remember,_ a voice said in his head.

The boy nearly yelped as an image another man's face appeared in his mind, startling him. He was a little younger, but he was also better, more good. However, the boy managed to control himself enough to keep from expressing his fear outwardly.

The boy looked up at the man above him, and for the first time, realized why he reacted negtively to his presence. For some reason, he knew this man wasn't good. He was the complete opposite.

"No," the boy responded, lying.

_Lie_...to tell something as it wasn't. Was this the first time he had "lied"?

"Come, then," the man told him. "We have a lot to talk about."

* * *

Doctor Spence sat in the security room, waiting, watching, observing. He was trying to get a read on Sarik's, Stella's, and many other choice Extended's body language, searching for any indication that they were conscious of themselves. So far, they showed almost nothing, though Sarik's first actions might have had some level of hesitation in them; however, it was just too subtle to make a judgment on.

Spence had worked for days without rest trying to implement the safeguards into the Extended's memories, especially Sarik and Stella's, as they were the most vital part of this plan. He had risked detection the entire time, and was still unsure if his actions had remained secret, or if the block had even been successful. William's personal questioning of Sarik was a troubling revelation. It would be a shame for all of this to be for naught.

Spence continued to watch as William had Sarik sit down in a lavish chair in a well decorated lobby-like room situated immediately outside of the testing area.

"Your name is Sarik," William informed the boy as he sat in a seat opposite of him. "Your parents treated you as an animal, keeping you caged up in your home for the entirety of your life. I rescued you from them, and brought you here to test you."

William remained silent for a moment, most likely to give Sarik time to interpret his words.

"If you pass, would you be willing to follow me?" William asked. "There are great things in store for those who succeed, especially you."

Spence watched the boy intently. His body language was showing a great amount of confusion. Apparently, the safeguard he had placed in the boy's mind had yet to fully crack, but fragments of memories were still seeping through. Sarik had yet to be stressed enough to remember. He probably needed to break the physical as well as the mental aspects of the mental defense in order to begin recovery.

"Maybe," Sarik replied in an unsure tone.

"Think about it," William almost ordered. "Meanwhile, have you something to eat."

As if on cue, a guard walked into the room carrying lavish silver tray with a large dome covering the food. After setting it on the short table in front of Sarik, the man pulled the top off, revealing a meal truly fit for royalty.

Sarik stared at it for a minute, puzzled. After a moment, he snatched up a piece of fruit, sniffed, then bit into it. He looked like he was actually struggling as he closed his jaw and broke off a part the plant. His mouth stopped, then he struggled again to move his mouth in order to chew. After a few attempts, he figured out how to keep chewing, then struggled to swallow. Once he had relearned these motions, he scarfed down the fruit down in seconds.

Sarik was reaching for a slice of meat when William stopped him.

"Why don't you try using the fork?" William suggested as he motioned at the silverware located on the side of the tray.

Sarik stared at it in a confused manner, but he picked it up anyway. He turned it end over end in his hands, examining it. He curiously pushed a finger on the teeth, jumping back in his seat as they poked him. The experience couldn't have been all that painful, but for one who had never experienced pain, it was probably agonizing.

Spence leaned forward in his seat, watching for any sign of recovery from Sarik. Perhaps pain would be sufficient to stimulate his brain enough to start the process?

* * *

Sarik continued to scarf down his meal, having discovered that by stabbing his food with the "fork", he could pick it up more efficiently than if he were to use his hands, also keeping himself clean in the process.

As he ate, Sarik began to realize that the way he held the metal object felt awkward. He couldn't figure out why, but after using the fork in several different positions, he discovered a method that gave him the maximum amount of flexibility. It was just like when he..._wrote_.

_Writing_...thats when one made objects on a piece of paper. Sarik was about to try to "write" in his food when he was stopped.

_William can't know,_ the voice told him.

As the voice spoke, the image of the other man came to mind again. He was a..._doctor_.

Sarik looked down at his food and decided he wasn't hungry anymore. _Hungry_...when you wanted food. He was now amused by the fact that he was thinking with these words without even realizing their meanings.

"Done," Sarik informed the man, using the word that sounded most correct.

"So, have you decided?" the man asked him.

"No," Sarik answered.

"No, you have not decided?" William questioned.

"Yes," Sarik replied.

"Very well," William sighed. "Think about it some more. In the mean time, you're to begin testing."

* * *

"It looks like my methods worked," Magner said, startling Spence. Somehow, the old hag had slipped into the security room without his notice. "Complete removal of all personal memories, yet the subject has retained his many of his physical skills."

"It appears so," Spence agreed darkly.

"You almost sound disappointed," Magner remarked.

"I don't think it's right," Spence admitted. "Taking the one and only thing they had left."

"They are merely equipment, now," Magner observed. "Memories, especially those of a frivolous nature, will simply get in the way, and create...undesirable personalities. It is mine, and many other's, opinion that developed, independent personalities make individuals harder to control."

"However, developed, independent personalities are what allow us to develop effective and rational judgment skills," Spence contradicted. "By removing them, you WILL be reducing maximum combat potential of your 'equipment'."

"Well, you're not the head psychologist around here, so what you think in this matter is of little consequence," Magner reminded him.

"No, I'm merely the one who performs all of the operations and modifications that you request," Spence replied arrogantly.

"Which you do a very fine job at, I will admit," Magner complemented.

Spence remained silent in fury as he watched the guard's prepare the boy for his testing, providing him with a brand new combat knife. The custom forged weapons were derived from an oriental design, with a fourteen centimeter long, inwardly curved blade, and a diamond reinforced edge. They could be deadly tools in the most even the most novice of hands.

"The last thing we did to them was...monstrous," Spence confessed in a disgusted tone.

"How is it any different than the other procedures that you have performed?" Magner questioned.

"I don't think that cutting a child's brain out of his head and mutilating it ranks very high on the morale scale," Spence replied. "Ten years ago, that operation would have killed him. Permanently, that is."

"I believe that's exactly what you did," Magner remarked.

"But we were able to bring him back," Spence retorted. "Unlike others"

"I wasn't regarding to his physical well-being," Magner said.

Spence fell silent as he observed, watching as Sarik was verbally relayed a set of instructions and left in a cramped, dark room. He hated how, right now, Sarik could be told anything, and he would believe it. This ignorance was worse than any sort of conditioning or brainwashing.

* * *

Sarik stood erect in the dark room, waiting. He had been provided with an item that these people had called a "knife". The guard had told him that there were other children in the next room who wanted to hurt him, and that he would have to use the knife in order to protect himself. He didn't really understand what a knife was, much less how to use it. But, since he had little choice, went along with it. If he passed the tests, he might later be able to figure out what was going on.

A few minutes later, as impatience began to catch up with Sarik, light flooded into the small room. A door immediately in front of him had slid open, revealing a very large room with white walls and a large, black rectangle on one side. He stepped into the room slowly, cautious of his surroundings.

Once he had completely crossed through, the door closed behind him and locked itself, blending in with the wall. Sarik glanced around and noticed there were seven other children in the room, two at each of the three other corners, and one at his.

"All right, children, listen, because I'm not going to repeat myself," an unrecognizable voice said from invisible speakers. "Only one person in here will pass this test. When all of the other children are down on the ground, the one left standing will be allowed to continue to the next test."

Everyone remained still for a moment, clueless of what they had to do. Then, in his boredom, Sarik's few thoughts began to drift, and a random memory flashed into his head, in which he was pushing a faceless child by the arm to the ground. He decided to try that first.

Sarik walked towards the boy a few meters away from him and pushed him in the arm. The child, a head shorter than him with hair that was a bright shade of gray, stepped back once to maintain his balance, but didn't fall. Sarik pushed him again, this time much harder and in the chest. The boy fell to the floor, rubbing his chest where Sarik had contacted him.

_This is going to be easy,_ Sarik thought arrogantly.

But then, the boy climbed back to his feet and stood there, giving Sarik a confused look. Sarik pushed him again, but the boy braced himself this time, and he didn't fall. Sarik pushed again, harder, but the boy retaliated by pushing back with his own arms, defending himself. Sarik was surprised by this and stumbled backwards. His face grew hot and he became...angry.

Sarik ran up to the boy and pushed him as hard as he physically could, forcing the boy against the wall, but the smaller child STILL refused to go down. Sarik stepped back a couple paces, then ran at him with his arms extended, putting his entire bodyweight behind the blow. The boy let out a gasp as the wind was knocked out of him. However, he merely hunched over in pain, and soon began to rise again. In his frustration, Sarik grabbed the boy by the shoulders and forced him to the ground, face first. He heard a distinct cracking sound as the boy began yelling in pain.

Out of curiosity of his newfound skill, Sarik decided to experiment. He grabbed the boy's head by the hair, pulled it back, then smashed it into the floor. He stopped crying, at least.

Sarik was about to move on to another child when he noticed a tiny pool of thick, red liquid forming underneath the boy's nose. He put his finger into it and brought up it to his face. The coppery smell overwhelmed him for a moment, and suddenly, he remembered.

_Blood._

Sarik remained deathly still as a memory played itself out inside of his head. As he stabbed a boy in the chest without even looking. As he tackled a larger boy who was so intent on killing...someone, and choked him to death. When he looked over to see people with blank faces fighting, and as he watched one sneak up behind another and twist his head, causing the victim to collapse to the floor, unmoving.

Sarik came to, and realized what he had to do.

He unsheathed his knife and rushed towards his next victims.

* * *

Sarah was amazed by the quality of the equipment that SSI had at its disposal. She was sitting over ten kilometers away from the base on the other end of the island, yet with this tiny scope, she could spot individual personnel scurrying about as if she were only a few meters away with absolute clarity.

"It's just like our unanimous informant said," Lee observed. "They seem to be packing the place up pretty quick, which means security is probably lax in all of the confusion. If we move in today, we'll have the highest chance for success."

"William is expecting us to come, sooner or later," Sarah replied. "The security inside is always much tighter than it is outside. If we go about this the wrong way, we WILL be wiped out, and we'll probably never locate the children again."

Sarah put her scope down and stared at the ground.

"However, this would be the best, and probably only chance we have," she agreed. "If they're moving the children in multiple trips, then Sarik will be one of the first they'll want to evacuate."

"The only one I'm particularly interested in," Lee reminded her.

"He'll be the easy part," Sarah told him. "It's getting to him that will be a little tricky."

"We have six Linear Tanks and three APCs," Lee told her. "I don't think firepower is a problem."

"No, but if I know the Director, he'd rather destroy everything than let it fall into another's hands," Sarah informed him. "Stealth is far more prudent than overall force."

Lee looked away in thought as he nodded his head slightly in agreement.

"What's that?" he asked a few minutes later, having returned to watching the base. "About thirty degrees to our left."

Sarah turned, and spotted a line of aged military trucks being loaded with personnel. Extremely short and very young looking personnel.

"He's already transporting them to the marina," Sarah stated.

"That's it, then," he told her. "We're moving in before they can launch any of their submarines. I think one tank and twenty men should be enough to cover the marina, don't you?"

"More than enough," Sarah replied as she donned her diver's mask.

After issuing several commands into his radio, Lee did the same. As he and Sarah walked into the water to join the rest of the vanguard team, several landing craft dropped their ramps, and heavy vehicles began roaring onto the beach.

* * *

Sarik stood deathly still as the hot water ran over his body. He had been told this was device was called a "shower", and that he needed to use it in order to clean himself before the testing continued. He truly appreciated it, because the blood got sticky after setting on his skin for a little while, becoming both an irritant and an encumbrance.

After about fifteen minutes of relaxing, he walked out of the shower and squirmed into the fresh clothes that he had been provided. He didn't know how he knew how to dress himself, just that he did.

After finishing, Sarik returned through the one and only door, leading back to the lobby where that man that not-good man had met him. Waiting was another large meal sitting in the same elaborate dish as had his previous meal. Sarik sat down and carefully consumed the food, as he was ravenous with hunger.

When he had finished his meal, a guard entered and escorted him back to the testing chamber. This was the fourth time he had to go back in there, and he was starting to grow tired of it. There was no challenge to what he was doing. Absolutely none.

However, this time, something had changed. As Sarik strolled into the white chamber, he noticed a platform of some sort was now located in the center of room. Setting on it was a long, metal object with protrusions of various sizes at various locations.

Sarik froze once more as several memories overwhelmed him at once. This time, he remembered using such an object, and loading it, and even cleaning it. A _gun_, he believed it was called, or more specifically, a _pistol_. Apparently, he had become quite accurate with them, and received several comments for his marksmanship.

But Sarik was not interested in the weapon. He was interested in the other children waiting for him. If he took care of them quickly, he wouldn't need to worry about it being used against him.

Sarik charged after the child nearest to him, a girl about his size with brown hair. She was caught totally unaware as Sarik unsheathed his knife and plunged it into her neck in one swift, smooth movement. She collapsed to the floor, blood spraying from her fatal wound.

_Too easy,_ Sarik thought. He didn't understand why it was this way. Was he good at this, or was everyone else just bad?

His wandering thoughts were quickly replaced with constant calculations. He moved in on his next two victims, two boys stabbing at each other with their knives, both too skilled to allow the other to cause any real damage to himself. Sarik moved up behind one and dug his blade into the child's back, then twirled around and slashed the other through the chest with the spin's full force.

Sarik was about to move on to the next weakest opponent he could find when he noticed one child began to dash for the gun in the center of the room. Sarik bolted after him, but the boy was already there, and he had already prepared the weapon.

Sarik dodged to the side as the boy turned on him and fired. For some reason, he found something familiar about this boy, especially the black hair and amber eyes.

Sarik cringed as something hit him. He glanced down and noticed a splotch of blood forming on his side. He didn't understand what had just happened, but a sudden jolt caused him to lose all feeling for a moment, and he collapsed to the ground. He had just felt pain again.

Sarik fell flat on the floor, his body going into shock. This one had fought back and succeeded. This one had beat him. This one was skilled enough.

Sarik, through will alone, rose to his feet, trembling as his body began to enter into shock, while the other boy's attention was turned elsewhere. He grabbed up his knife, then stalked his newly-found rival.

The boy had just finished the rest of the children with his gun when Sarik let out a yell as he brought his knife in for the kill. But the boy still had his own knife unsheathed in one hand, and he was able to block the blow with ease. Sarik moved in again to cut into his opponent's flesh, but was beaten back again.

Sarik let out a howl in pain as the boy stabbed his knife into Sarik's right arm. Sarik did not release his weapon, but the pain was excruciating, and extremely distracting. Enough that darkness instantly formed at the edge of his eyes. Sarik could barely perceive that his opponent was pointing the gun at his face.

_Beaten? _Sarik questioned as time froze, his will faltering. He almost gave into the darkness, ready to rest.

_No! _he told himself. _He won't beat me. No one can beat me!_

"No one can beat me!" Sarik yelled psychotically as he slashed up with his knife at the boy and dodged to the left, knocking the gun out of the boy's hand and setting off the round in the chamber. The bullet missed Sarik by several centimeters.

Sarik cut in again, and again, and again, despite the fact that he was blocked every time. He loosed flurry after flurry upon his opponent, slowly wearing him down. Sarik finally cut down on the boy's hand, and that was it.

Two of his rival's fingers joined his knife on the ground as Sarik moved his own blade to the boy's throat. He was on his knees now, gazing up at Sarik, as if he were begging. He said nothing, made no motion, as if to be defiant, but his eyes exposed his true desires. He had no wish to cease.

Sarik was amused for a moment, but as amusement faded, he remembered what he had to do in order to pass.

Sarik swept his knife back over his left arm, then let loose the final blow. The blade cut through the boy's throat like tissue paper, and blood spattered the entirety of Sarik's torso.

Sarik stood there for a moment, unsure of what he had just done. The memory from which he learned to fight replayed itself, this time more complete. Among those who were fighting was this boy he had just defeated.

As Sarik sheathed his blade, he felt a tear streak down his face, though he did not understand why.

* * *

Spence watched quietly as Sarik executed his foe in an extremely exaggerated manner. It would have been easier to end it the instant the other child was incapacitated.

However, Spence was still somewhat amused. Sarik was either redeveloping a sense of humanity, or he was getting sloppy, because he had left a total of nine children alive from his personal engagements. They were the only failing children to survive any of the testing, as the other succeeding contestants were more than thorough in ensuring that their victims would "stay on the floor".

Spence stretched his hands and stood to leave the surveillance room. He had much work to do in preparation for the events about to take place.

* * *

William was impressed. His brother had been ever so hesitant to even harm a child before he had the memory wipe. Now, he was an emotionless killing machine.

Perhaps he could finally make up for all of his failures. The success of this project would gain him much prestige within Logos and Blue Cosmos, much less amnesty for past mistakes. The Coordinators would finally be destroyed by these new, living weapons, and he would be among the elite who truly controlled the new world.

William glanced over the assignment sheets for the next battle. So far, the rest of Blue Team had survived, though the boy named Alex wasn't faring too well. It didn't matter. Sarik would have crushed him easily in a fair fight, even with his injuries. The only potential threat was the girl.

But they would have to see. William knew THAT would be an even and drawn out battle. He couldn't wait to watch it.

* * *

Sarah surfaced from the water. Her two oxygen tanks were nearly empty, and she was exhausted. She swam up to where she could sit and took a moment to rest.

During those two hours underwater, the vanguard team had to bypass mines, sentry nets, and heat sensors. It had been extremely difficult, and there were several close calls, though every one eventually made it safely through. She just hoped that they hadn't been detected, because if they had, then the facility was probably empty by now.

But she put the thought out of her head. Most of the mercenaries were waiting in a perimeter a few kilometers from base with the linear tanks and APCs. It would take an army to bypass them.

After a few moments of rest, Sarah stripped her gear and waded onto the shore. There, the spearhead team was finishing up their sweep, disabling any sensors that they came across. By now, they were beginning to scale the cliff up towards the base. Apparently, it was a barrier twofold. Not only was it thirty meters to the top, but there was a ten meter wall blocking out the base, which was built on the cliff's edge. In addition to that, she heard someone mention something about a minefield that was built into the cliff face. It was going to be a while before they would be able to infiltrate the facility.

Sarah hoped that this would work out. Sarik's parents were waiting on one of the freighters offshore, and they wanted to be there the moment that their son was liberated. If this mission failed, Sarah knew there was going to be big time trouble for her and the other defecties.

She continued to ponder the potential outcomes as she strolled over to the large container that had been floated in by the rear guard. She waited patiently as a technician unlocked the case, revealing a small arsenal consisting of assault rifles, submachine guns, RPGs, and even a pair of light laser guided mortars. This was all the support the vanguard team had until the signal was sent for the main force to attack. And by then, Sarah would be inside the facility. Hopefully.

Sarah grabbed up the submachine gun that she had been assigned, then went about preparing for battle.

* * *

Sarik was slumped forward in the chair, a solemn look on his face, as he had just been through another test, and, despite his recently dressed injuries, had single handedly finished all of the other children. The last one, a boy with brown hair and blue eyes, had been his latest victim.

The reason he was depressed was because he felt that he had known the boy. He couldn't remember anything about him, but something had screamed inside of Sarik to not harm him. He had ignored it and finished the test, but he still felt bad about it.

No, not bad. That was a huge under statement. He felt HORRIBLE. He couldn't understand why, though. It was completely irrational.

Sarik looked up as one of the guards walked into the lobby, followed by that man Sarik had first met. However, the man no longer looked confident or cold. In fact, he almost looked scared. But again, Sarik didn't know why he knew these things. He just did.

"You've done well," the man told him. "Have you decided whether or not to join me?"

Sarik fidgeted. He hadn't thought about it at all. But he thought about how he felt now. After all of this, he didn't feel happy, or confident, or successful. He felt..._empty_.

"I'm still thinking," Sarik replied.

William scowled when he heard this.

"Well, we're going to have to finish up your testing quickly," he told Sarik irritably. "You have until then to decide."

Sarik sighed. The last test was only twenty minutes ago. But, obediently, he dropped out of the chair and walked over to the guard, who led him to the waiting room. There, Sarik found his knife, cleaned and well polished.

He sat on the floor cross-legged and closed his eyes, waiting.

* * *

William watched intently as the battle finished up. The girl was like a predatory cat. By now, the only children left to test were the best fighters, yet Stella surpassed them all. Within sixty seconds from the start of an engagement, she was able to eliminate her individual foes.

Except this one. She was fighting another girl, a little older in age, but of about the same size, with a shoulder length mane of light blond hair, and cold, gray eyes. She was successfully holding Stella at bay, though she was unable to gain any ground. Stella had yet to lay any blows on her, though the other girl's attacks were becoming desperate. It wouldn't be long.

What the other girl seemed intent on doing was to keep herself between Stella and the pistol that lay in the center of the room. If Stella got a hold of it, the battle would be set.

And Stella knew this. She continued to push the girl back, her blows growing quicker and more ferocious. Every now and then, Stella would hit with all of her might, forcing the girl to stumble closer towards the center of the room. By now, they were only two meters away from the platform.

Stella lashed out with her blade, then let loose a flurry of kicks. The other girl was knocked backwards a whole meter. The child obviously was good at gaging distances, because she ran backwards, then jumped up onto the platform like a master gymnast and kicked the gun away.

From then on, things got a lot more interesting.

Stella sprinted after the weapon even before it was kicked, apparently hoping to catch it before it flew too far. But the other girl leaped off of the platform, twirling through the air. She came down and kicked at Stella, then landed on her hands and flipped herself back to her feet.

Stella moved fluidly with the blows, allowing herself to be knocked back a little. As the other girl hit the ground, she was already sprinting towards the pistol.

The other girl was running only centimeters behind Stella as she noticed her legs starting to coil. She reacted in time, and was able to dive under Stella as she leaped at the pistol.

The girls arrived at the weapon at about the same time, and as a result, they grabbed it at the same exact moment, Stella flipping back onto her feet, and the other girl still flying through the air. When the combatants were distanced from each other, the resulting force caused them to loose their grips on the weapon, and it flew in a direction between and opposite of the girls.

However, Stella was on her feet earlier this time, and she once again sprinted after the weapon, the other girl on her heels, half a meter away.

Stella dove after the pistol, and began skidding on the floor as she grabbed it. She rolled herself onto her back in mid-skid and fired.

Time almost seemed to slow for William as the bullet traveled through the air. He could almost determine the slight arc it flew in through the air, the sonic wake it produced as it traveled nearly twice the speed of sound. But he knew these things were only figments of his imagination, the results of an overly informed mind.

Time returned to normal as the round pierced the girl's chest, leaving a small, gaping hole in the lower center of her sternum. The girl collapsed, and Stella sat there, panting.

William left the observation chamber. Watching this fight in the front row seats was enough to convince him. The last battle would would definitely be interesting. The berserker versus the wild cat. He wondered which would win.

* * *

Sarah continued to scale the wall, panting heavily as she did. She was only halfway up, yet she'd been climbing for nearly fifteen minutes. The flak vest she wore and the equipment strapped over it on her back made the task especially difficult.

But she kept on climbing. She had to. She had to prove her strength to these people, and she had to prove to herself that she could do this. Sarik would not be the same when they found him. She knew that. She would have to be able to endure in the times to come if she was to help him.

But what if he blamed her? As far as he knew, she simply left. And as soon as she left, things probably got worse. She had her degree in psychology, and a child his age did not think in the same manner as an adult, who would still put blame in her at this point. By now, he could very well think she was the reason for all of this.

Before she realized it, Sarah was already to the top. Apparently, she moved faster when she wasn't concentrating on mundane actions.

"What's going on?" she asked Lee, who had been waiting at the top for about ten minutes by now.

"Nothing," he told her. "Absolutely nothing. They loaded a couple more trucks a few minutes ago, but nothing since."

"Do you think he knows we were coming?" Sarah questioned. "He might be putting on this display to lure us into a sense of false security."

"It's an unfortunate possibility," he told her. "He does own a portion of the corporation. He could have informants all over the place."

Sarah pursed her lips in disdain, then proceeded to locking herself onto the wall. Once she was secure, she pulled out a pair of binoculars and joined the other infiltrators in observing the base's non-existent activities.

* * *

Sarik felt like he had been sitting forever. He was trying to keep patient, but it was so hard, and becoming more so the longer he waited.

However, as if someone had read his thoughts, the door in front of him opened. He strolled inside of the monotonous white room to discover several significant changes.

Located in each of the corners were platforms supporting some sort of short bladed weapon longer and broader than a knife. _Swords_, if he remembered correctly. In the center of the room were three platforms, rather than the normal single platform. The pistols on top had been replaced by guns slightly larger and much more sleek in design.

Sarik was about to move onto the offensive when he was forced to his knees as pain overwhelmed him.

_"You must protect the weapons," the good man told him. "I will arrange for them to be loaded with armor piercing rounds. They will penetrate flak vests, doors, and bullet-proof glass with ease. However, you must not waste them in the fight, as they are to be an integral part of your escape."_

_Escape._ He knew what that meant. He had to run. He had to get away from here. Get away from...

_William,_ he thought in hatred.

That man. The one who had told Sarik that he was his savior. Asked him to join him. Told him these were only tests. Lied to him. These weren't tests. This was...

_Elimination._

_"You will be participating in a series of tests and competitions against the other teams," William had told them. "There will be no rewards for successful completion of your tasks. However, there will be punishment for lack of performance, and failure will be rewarded with elimination, which will result in the ultimate punishment."_

The ultimate punishment. _Death._

Sarik glanced down at the sheathed knife in his hand. How many had he killed? How many had he doomed to know nothing else but oblivion?

Sarik snapped to when he realized that someone was rushing towards him, letting out savage battle cry. He realized that he had to kill more. He knew that when he had agreed to this.

Sarik moved to his feet, and in one, graceful motion, unsheathed his weapon and slashed into the child's chest. Sarik cringed as blood sprayed all over his body. However, he realized something as the dead child collapsed backwards.

He felt nothing of it. No pain, no remorse, no respect, not even disdain for his enemy. Nothing good, nothing bad. Absolute nothingness.

_Then perhaps I will feel nothing when I kill William,_ he thought.

That's what he was going to do when he escaped. _Kill William_. William was the one who had forced this burden on him. He was going to know what he had created. It was going to be his last memory of this life. An understanding of the power that he had unleashed.

Sarik sprinted forward, covering the ground between him and the guns in seconds. His adrenaline was pumping in mad amounts, but unlike that first time, he had experience, and absolute control over his power.

Sarik circled around the platforms slowly, his posture almost saying, "Come on, I dare you."

One child was stupid enough to try. Sarik stood his ground, waiting for the enraged boy, covered in blood and armed with a sword, to come into range. Before the child, no, the _infant_, realized what had happened, he was dead, Sarik crouching down below him, a diamond edged blade embedded in his heart.

That's all they really were, wasn't it? _Infants_. They had no memories, like him. But also, they had no understanding of their power, their potential. It showed. In the way they fought. In the way they moved. Only the strongest, most skilled, had survived these fights. And he was going to be the victor to the end.

Sarik continued his patrol, waiting for another challenger to approach him. But one never came. The remaining four children had been or were being engaged by a single girl.

He was mystified by how she fought, how she moved. The thin girl with long, golden blond hair moved so perfectly, so fluidly. There was no indication of exertion in her attacks. It seemed as if every one of her moves was a part of a single, giant motion. She never stopped, never hesitated, never flinched.

Within minutes, there was only the two of them. Sarik prepared himself, as she had just set her sights on him.

She simply stood there, staring at him. Assessing him. The arrogant, cold expression she formed as she gazed at Sarik. It was as if he were some annoying insect, and she was looking for the best way to squash him without being stung.

After a few minutes of standing motionless, the girl suddenly and without warning charged towards him, making absolutely no noise at all. She was completely silent. Only when she was within a couple meters of Sarik could her soft steps be heard.

It was then that he sprung into action, completely surprising the girl. She must have thought he wasn't any good if he was just hanging around the center waiting everything out.

In that instant, he proved her wrong. He moved in on the smaller child, ready to destroy her. But by the time he had reached her location, she was gone.

Sarik locked onto her with his senses, then turned to his left as she attempted to stab him in the side. He tossed his knife to his left hand and deflected her knife with his own, then he pushed her away from him with his forearm. As he tossed his knife back into his right hand, he charged after her, forcing the small girl slowly towards the wall.

But she continued to hold on to her weapon, despite his powerful blows, and she defended against every single one with unparalleled precision.

The girl suddenly moved on the offensive, attacking Sarik with the ferocity of a seasoned warrior, nearly penetrating his defenses several times. But he held his grond, and soon, his opportunity came.

Sarik noticed that the girl loosened her grip just ever so slightly whenever she changed her grasp on the weapon in order to attack Sarik in the constantly varying positions that she did. The next time she moved in, Sarik deflected the attack with the most powerful blow he could muster, followed by a kick with his left leg, hitting her in the hand and sending the knife flying meters away from them. Then, all in one motion, he spun around completely, as if he were a part of some twisted ballet of death. As he swung back around, he extended his weapon, cutting into the girl's chest.

But he was dissatisfied at himself and his miscalculation. He had felt the knife scrape just barely along the bones of her rib cage, not penetrating deep enough to do any real damage.

The girl stumbled the remaining meter to the wall, then slid down in defeat. Sarik walked after her a few seconds later to finish it, when she seemed to no longer be a threat. He grasped his knife like an infant grasping a piece of silverware, then brought it down towards her chest.

And he dropped the blade as his body froze. The girl had started crying, and for that reason alone, he had let go of his lifeline. His guaranteed ticket out of here.

And, as if he had never forgot, he remembered. Remembered the day when he had come to this place and met his friends. The first day of training. The failed escape. The months that he had spent bonding with them. The first time he was taken. And when he was offered a second chance by that doctor. Spence.

Sarik fell down onto Stella, sobbing. He grabbed her up in a tight hug, and let a seeming lifetime's worth of sorrows loose.

He released her some when she relaxed in his grip and looked into her eyes. They were no longer cold and piercing. She remembered. Him, their friends, and everything else. Even more tears welled up in his eyes out of horror.

"I'm sorry," he cried loudly as he pulled her back into a hug. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry..."

Stella sobbed with him, and they simply lay there, crying the entire time.

But then, Sarik remembered his mission. They had to get out of here. And now, he had every means by which to do that.

Keeping out of sight as best as he could, Sarik braced Stella up against the wall a few meters away from the one-way mirror, which conveniently was built into the same wall that he had injured her at. After she assured him with a gesture that she could stay up by herself, Sarik rose to his feet and strolled towards the center of the room. He picked up one of the submachine guns and walked back towards Stella, pulling the charge pin as he went.

* * *

Spence had almost jumped for joy when he watched Sarik drop the knife and grab up Stella. It was almost like one of those cheap love movies his wife used to make him watch.

He looked over at the portrait of his wife and infant son, which sat on his desk to the right of his computer. He wondered what they thought of him, now. It had been nearly five years. How had he let himself become so bitter during that time?

But he snapped out of his thoughts and walked about his office, preparing for the events about to take place. He had a job to do, for now. When those children were away, he would then be free to rest.

* * *

The security officer watched the events unfold in complete curiosity from his position in the security control center. One moment, the boy was slicing and dicing that girl, the next, he was on the floor crying with her. The officer didn't understand it one bit.

He was about to call for a security team when the boy began to move her towards on of the corners, as if he expected something was about to happen. But the guard relaxed when the boy grabbed up one of the weapons which he had seemed so reluctant to use earlier and prowled back towards her.

This was interesting. Perhaps he was going to execute her. This was definitely going to be worth watching.

But when the child was within a meter of the glass, he pointed the gun directly at the guard.

The officer began to snicker, soon imitated by the junior guard beside him. This glass was completely bullet proof. Any weapon that had been placed in there would never be able to break the barrier.

Then, the boy fired. The officer looked down at his chest in horror as something hit him. He noticed a single, bloody hole, suddenly joined by another, and another, and soon, there were at least ten wounds.

The sadist's last thoughts as he fell down dead were, _How the hell did he manage that?_

* * *

Sarik dropped the empty gun and sprinted back to the center of the room, grabbing up another of the machine guns. He sprayed fire at the remainder of the bullet-proof glass, clearing out as much of the lower half of the window as he possibly could. After emptying another weapon, he ran up to the hole and jumped into the security room beyond the portal, nicking his right hand on the broken glass lining the bottom of the frame.

Located in the control center was an entire array consoles that controlled various security measures throughout the entire level. Following Spence's instructions, Sarik unlocked all of the exits between him and the elevators. Before he left, he manually hacked the security cameras and sent an overload throughout the entire network on that level. Seconds later, the camera in the security center burst into sparks and shrapnel. Satisfied, Sarik pulled one of the dead guard's batons from his belt and used it to clear the remaining glass from the bottom edge of the window, so he could get back out without cutting himself.

Sarik smirked with satisfaction as he leaped back through the window and sprinted towards the center of the arena. He wrapped his hand in a strip of cloth from his sleeve, grabbed the remaining submachine gun, and ran towards the spot where Stella's knife had flown off to. After retrieving it, he sprinted back to Stella, who was breathing heavily.

"We have to go," he told her, forcing her to her feet and pulling her towards the window.

She propped herself against the wall, and Sarik leaped back through the destroyed barrier. After setting his small arsenal down, he helped Stella climb through the shattered window, careful to keep her from getting cut on the remaining glass shards.

"Take this," he told her as he forced her knife into her hand.

After she had herself situated, Sarik had Stella wrap one of her arms around his waist and began walking her out of the horrid place.

They didn't get far before they ran into trouble. As soon as they left the security center, two men came running down the hallway. Luckily, the facility's staff was in the process of packing everything for transport, so containers lined the walls in layers. By the time the security guards spotted Sarik and Stella, it was too late for them to react.

Sarik opened fire with his weapon, the armor piercing rounds cutting through their meager body armor. He only used eight rounds, and both men were most definitely dead, slumped against the many boxes and containers.

"Stay here," Sarik told Stella, handing her the submachine gun.

Now he had to find the rest of his equipment. Spence had informed him it would be stored in a metal footlocker not far from the security center. He said the only way he would be able to identify it from among the rest of the boxes was by a small red sticker on the side that said 'Fragile'.

Sarik started to despair as he paced up and down the hallway. Spence had estimated that he and Stella would have between ten and fifteen minutes before all hell would break loose, and Sarik estimated he had wasted two searching for the container. He was about to give up and move on without the equipment when he noticed one footlocker out of place among several plastic crates. He inched it out a few centimeters, then peeked around to the other side. Just as Spence had said, there was a red sticker with 'Fragile' printed on it.

Sarik thought about how ironic the label was as he rummaged through the contents, removing two custom made flak vests. After slipping into the larger of the two, he began to load the pockets on it with ammunition clips and other necessities.

Sarik almost whistled when he pulled out a small gun case and opened it. Inside was a brand new submachine gun, polished and gleaming. It was larger than the pistol-like weapons from the arena, with a stock and a longer barrel, yet, for some reason, it remained just as light and balanced as the other guns when he held it.

After grabbing Stella's equipment and the medical kit, Sarik ran back down the hallway.

"Stella?!" he yelled when he spotted her.

She lay on her side, slumped up against one of the boxes. Sarik ran over to her and pulled her bloodied shirt up. She was bleeding badly from the wound he gave her.

Sarik tore open the medical kit, sending some of its contents flying. He managed to catch two of the escapees in mid-air. He rummaged through the various drugs and compounds Spence had provided, the syringes labeled in very simple terms. Sarik finally found one that said "Antiseptic", and soon after located another that was labeled "Blood Clotter".

Sarik squirted the antiseptic into her wound, then wiped it dry with a gauze pad from the kit. He then carefully and evenly applied the clotter into her wound. Amazingly, she stopped bleeding almost immediately, and a large, black scab soon formed over the cut.

Sarik dropped the syringes and went back to rummaging through the kit. He had learned basic first aid from...somewhere, but he wasn't ready for this. However, after analyzing everything he could remember, he formulated an idea. Or maybe it wasn't an idea, but unrealized experience.

Sarik retrieved the entire gauze roll and pulled Stella's shirt up a little more as he started wrapping the bandaging material around her body. He noticed that her wound had started bleeding lightly, but the gauze would keep it from becoming deadly, in theory.

Sarik let her shirt fall back down as he searched through the remaining drugs. Spence had told him that his body was redesigned, or at least that was the easiest way to describe it, and that it would react differently to many substances than Naturals, including certain drugs intended for combat applications. Sarik was told these drugs were highly addictive, and that the withdrawal was horrible, but supposedly, they would enhance his combat capabilities several times over, and he would have at least an hour before it began breaking down in his system. If he only used it once, it wouldn't kill him. Again, in theory.

Sarik broke the cap off of one of the containers and gulped the liquid inside down in as few sips as possible. It tasted like all of the liquid medicines in the world combined with a hint of iodine into one, sick fluid.

He instantly began feeling its effects, the strength flowing to his limbs and his senses enhancing, but he knew he had to get Stella ready to move before he entered any sort of battle mindset. He quickly popped the cap off of the other container and forced it to her lips. Some of the liquid entered her mouth, and Stella regained consciousness, coughing. She almost knocked the drugs out of Sarik's hand when she brought her hand to her mouth.

"Drink it," he ordered her in a no-nonsense tone.

She grabbed it from him and sipped at it, then grimaced. Sarik gave her a stern look, and she gulped the rest down.

"Now get this on," he told her as he slipped her flak jacket over her head. She squirmed into it without protest.

"And here's your new gun," he told her, handing her a .44 magnum semi-automatic pistol with a recoil suppressor attached to the barrel's end. Spence had been also kind enough to provide four ten round clips for the powerful weapon, which Sarik had already placed in Stella's vest.

"Let's go," she said as she cocked the weapon, her voice no longer that of a young child, but that of someone much more ancient.

Sarik pulled the pin back on his submachine gun, then grabbed Stella around the shoulders to support her.

* * *

Spence continued to watch the monitor array that he had erected a few moments ago in his office. Each screen was constantly shifting through the backup cameras on every one of the facility's sub-levels, of which only Spence had access to at the moment. After Sarik lowered the sub-levels' security protocols, it only took Spence a few prompt commands and a click to isolate the various devices and place them under his undisputed control.

As Sarik and Stella neared the elevators, he hit a key, causing one of the lift's doors to slide open. He was relieved, but not surprised, when Sarik took the hint and carried Stella towards it.

Spence changed the monitor array's view to the next level, which was little more than a one hundred meter long corridor that served as a security checkpoint. It appeared that no one on this level was aware of the children's escape. The four men stationed at each elevator were standing idly, off in their own thoughts or chatting away. The security blackout was having a better effect than Spence had originally estimated.

Spence returned his view to the laboratories. Sarik and Stella had just boarded the one elevator and engaged it to move up to the next level. The doors locked shut as four heavily armed guards came running around the corner, intent on stopping the escapees. When the guards realized it was too late, they boarded another elevator leading to another security corridor. Apparently, they intended to catch the children when they reached the surface.

But Spence could not allow this. He loaded up the elevator's mechanical systems, and in ten seconds, was asked by the computer whether to execute or not. After a moment's hesitation, he told the program to engage.

Spence watched through one of his monitors as the elevator stopped. The men were puzzled and began pressing various buttons on the command console, trying to get it to move again. Suddenly, the elevator lurched, and began falling. They started yelling and scrambling around in panic as the metal deathtrap plunged downward.

But, as Spence expected, the emergency brakes engaged. However, the men would stop for nothing, and one jumped up and knocked away a panel in the elevator's roof. The emergency exit.

Spence shook his head at their persistence. A few seconds later, he had another abort/execute option dominating his computer's main monitor. He engaged again, and the emergency brakes on the elevator gave way. He continued to watch until, seconds later, the elevator's camera showed nothing but static.

William truly concerned him. Did he really trust his underlings so little that he felt it necessary to be able to disable even emergency systems?

Spence returned his attention to Sarik, whose elevator was about twenty seconds from his destination.

* * *

Sarik was resting on one knee near the elevator's door. He had made sure Stella was situated in the front left corner of the transport before they arrived, behind the control panel. He was not going get her into a fight unless there was no other alternative. She wouldn't be much help in this state, anyway.

Sarik continued to wait, growing somewhat impatient. The sooner he got this over with, the better. Just sitting was agonizing.

He snapped back to reality as the elevator chimed and the doors slid open. Standing with their backs to it were four of those seasoned soldiers armed with assault rifles and light machine guns. They had just started turning when Sarik opened fire.

Four seconds and eight bullets later, all four men lay face first on the floor, a pair of machine gun rounds embedded into each of their skulls.

Sarik was about to charge forward when he came under fire from the four other guards across the room. He dove to the console on the left to avoid the hail of lead, then crouched down, thinking. These men had every advantage, in both numbers and equipment. He needed something that could take them out quickly.

He dared to peek around the edge of the elevator, and was quickly forced back by another wave of bullets, several ricochets catching him in the chest. As he regained his breath, he began formulating an attack, as he had just located what he was looking for. On the guards' tactical vests were grenades of some sort. That meant that his victims were probably similarly equipped.

Sarik dropped his gun, took one last deep breath, and charged out of the elevator. His battle trance had taken full effect, and combined with the combat stimulant, he was untouchable. Time was nearly at a standstill as he slowly advanced towards his objective. He could SEE the individual flames from each of the gun's barrels as they fired, he could SEE where the rounds were destined to fly, he could SEE perspiration dripping down the guard's faces. In mere seconds, he saw things that no normal human could perceive.

* * *

The guards opened fire relentlessly on Sarik as he left the elevator, but not once had they come close to hitting him. Every time a round left each of their weapons, he seemed to be able to predict where it would go before the bullet reached him and avoid it by several centimeters.

They continued to fire at him, still to no avail, especially after he had hid himself behind a makeshift barricade made with one of the bodies. One turned and ran when the boy reached underneath the dead guard's body and ripped something away from his vest. The others were completely oblivious as the boy tossed it with what seemed like a quick flick of the wrist.

No one had even perceived what was about to happen until they realized the boy was holding a pin of some sort. Suddenly, their vision was filled with red, followed by utter blackness.

* * *

Sarik grabbed up one of the assault rifles and mowed down the last of his antagonists. Eight kills, eight of his bullets, and no injuries. He was getting good at this.

Sarik dropped the rifle and ran back to the elevator, pulling Stella to her feet. After he grabbed up his submachine gun, Sarik and Stella began the slow process of crossing the bloodied corridor.

* * *

Sarah was beginning to grow bored from watching the base when suddenly, alarms began going off everywhere.

"Time to move!" Lee yelled.

"Wait!" Sarah said.

"If we don't attack now, they'll be all over us," Lee told her.

"Then why are they running INTO the facility?" Sarah asked.

Lee quickly surveyed the entire base, and as Sarah had stated, most of the guards were running in. Frantically.

"They're digging in," Lee suggested.

"I don't think so," Sarah replied. "They would be taking the children with them if that was the case. There's something going on inside."

Lee looked away for a moment, thinking.

"Do you your contact might be causing this?" he asked her.

"Possibly," she informed him. "But, there is also the possibility that it's Sarik."

"I thought William took care of that," Lee remarked.

Sarah was skeptical about the notion, too. She had no idea what happened, but after Blue Team's escape attempt, William had personally spoken with Sarik and Stella. All she knew about the incident was that Sarik had become very protective of the girl afterwards, and that they never attempted any such escape ever again.

"Then the rest of Blue Team would be with him," Sarah told Lee. "For some reason, they would feel that they had a great chance for success, or else they wouldn't bother. Perhaps the result of the same contact?"

"Well, if they're not reinforcing their guard, then we must move with all due haste," Lee told her. "Crush them while they're still confused."

After taking a deep breath, Lee yelled, "Grapples!"

Every soldier along the wall pulled a small, black crossbow from his equipment and aimed it towards the ground. Attached to the bolts were high-density cables, capable of sustaining nearly five hundred kilograms in weight.

"Fire!" Lee ordered.

Every mercenary fired his crossbow simultaneously, hitting one of the buildings about fifty meters away. After securing their end of the zip lines, they all grabbed a handled pulley and began their descent.

After everyone was on the ground, Sarah positioned her own pulley and zipped down, crashing lightly into the building and falling the remaining centimeters to the ground.

* * *

Spence watched the entire scene in utter amazement. Until now, he had no idea how truly deadly his creations were. Now that he knew, he had all the more reason to regret going through with his experiments in the first place, and why he had to put an end everything now.

_But it's already done, _he admitted to himself._ There is no more time for self-pity._

Spence shifted his monitor to the next level, observing what Sarik was about to encounter. By now, the upper levels were alerted, and Spence could hear men running all over the place from his office. He had been hacking away at the security network, trying to make it as difficult as possible for the security forces to move through this labyrinth of a facility, but every minute Sarik wasted was another minute closer to failure.

Spence was glancing through the monitors when he noticed an entire team of guards in riot gear loading onto the elevator Sarik was aiming to board. This wasn't good. Sarik would be about halfway down the corridor when they arrived, and there would be nothing he could do to fight them. These men carried titanium combat shields rather than the simple glass riot shields that they had sported earlier in the summer. They were expecting armor-piercing weaponry.

But then, he remembered that one security measure that had cost a careless guard his life earlier on in the facility's existence. That would behis trump card.

Suddenly, a small alarm of his own went off, and one of the monitors shifted to a view outside of the facility. He spotted several armed men grappling down into the base's perimeter before the camera he had placed went dead.

_So my timing was correct,_ he mused himself.

* * *

Sarik continued to support Stella, trying to get to the elevator as quickly as possible. He had taken the time to check her bandages after the fight was over, and her predicament wasn't good. Her wound had completely reopened, and she had lost a lot of blood. Stella was already in a somewhat dreamy state. If they got into a tight situation, she wouldn't be able to defend herself.

They had to get out fast. If Stella bled to death, all of the work that Spence had invested into this would be wasted, because Sarik refused to leave her behind. They were both leaving together, dead or alive.

The two were about halfway down the corridor when the elevator doors slid open, and lines of glimmering shields began marching forward.

* * *

Sarah fired her submachine gun around the corner at an unsuspecting guard. Three bullets cut into his body, and he collapsed to the ground.

Fifty meters away were the trucks filled with children. All of the commandos in Lee's group were ordered not to damage them under any circumstances. The guards had apparently assumed this, and had already begun using the vehicles for cover.

However, they were soon running for better cover when the sniper team finally took up position on a building that flanked all of the guard's positions. Sarah thought it would end quickly from there.

But it didn't. The cowards began equipping the children with their fallen comrade's weapons and sending them charging into the fight. Sarah cringed as a sniper's bullet cut through a young boy who was sprinting towards her position.

Sarah's brooding ended when she ducked behind cover as several bullets flew by. Lee ran between buildings towards her, under fire from three different sources, though he seemed to move just fast enough to avoid their shots.

"They're using the children," she observed as he approached.

"It won't look good if we end up killing everyone we came to rescue," Lee agreed. "Do you still have that designator I gave you?"

Sarah began grabbing around her utility belt, looking for the device. It was a laser pointer used to provide a firing solution for the mortars that were set up on the beachhead. She hoped he didn't plan on using them on the children directly. It would become a massacre.

She eventually located the device, strapped to her pack, and handed it to Lee.

"Mortar team, load the gas shells," he yelled into his headset.

He quickly changed the channel on his radio.

"Everyone, gas masks on," Lee ordered. "If you have shock rounds, this is the time to start using them.

Lee slipped his mask on, then leaped out into the open and crouched low. Sarah heard two 'thud's in the distance. The mortar rounds had just been launched a few seconds ago. She peeked around the corner and provided Lee with covering fire.

Lee aimed the laser at one of the trucks. Seconds later, two rounds impacted on it and began releasing a mild nerve agent. Everyone who breathed it fell to the ground and began convulsing instantly. All except for the children.

They continued to advance relentlessly, even though they were hacking and coughing horribly. Two commandos were mowed down as they tried to move in on the seemingly encumbered children and disable them with tasers.

Sarah dropped the huge pack on her back, fished out her gas mask, slammed a magazine full of stun rounds into her gun, charged around the corner towards the facility, Lee quickly running past her.

* * *

Spence watched as the rows of security officers slowly marched forward, unhindered by the wall of bullets that Sarik was throwing up with the weapons he had procured from the dead guards. Even the light machine guns, which Sarik could barely lift, had no effect.

After emptying every one of the weapons, Sarik finally gave up using guns. Instead, he grabbed all of the grenades he could carry and began lobbing them one by one. However, the advancing officers simply planted their shields on the ground, and the grenades bounced harmlessly off of the metal. When they exploded, they didn't do as much as to cause the men to flinch.

As this took place, Spence was busy hacking away at the incinerator trap's firewall. He would have thought that other parts of the facility would be better protected, but this was by far the hardest single program he had to infiltrate in his entire life. Apparently, William also felt it was a trump card.

Spence let out a sigh when the manual controls finally showed up on his computer. Without delay, he activated it.

Spence was almost surprised that the cameras were still sending feed. Apparently, they must have been designed to withstand such an environment.

The guards, on the other hand, were not. They all began to panic when the vault doors slammed down at the elevator and ten meters ahead of it. They did not have much time to despair, however, as panels opened in the walls and flaming magnesium-based liquid saturated the chamber. The men were only screaming for about a second or so, as within seconds, the fire had burned down to their bones. By the end of the first minute, almost no trace was left of the men or their equipment. When the fire had died down and the doors raised, there was nothing but a light layer of dust and metal bumps located here and there on the floor.

Spence activated the cargo elevator's doors, making way for Sarik and Stella. He was concerned for the girl, though. Sarik was now walking briskly with Stella cradled in his arms, his weapon slung over his shoulder by its strap. The poor child wasn't faring well.

_If only I could get there to help,_ Spence thought.

Suddenly, someone started banging on his office door.

"Doctor Spence, open up!" yelled a guard's gruff voice.

_But my fate is already sealed._

Spence opened one of his desk drawers and fished out an old-fashioned revolver. He loaded one round and set the pistol on the desk.

Suddenly, alarms started going off on the first level of the facility. Spence maneuvered his way through the camera banks, eventually tapping into one near the entrance. Storming into the facility were dozens of men suited up like a top-class special forces unit.

Spence smiled, and was about to grab his pistol, when someone that had rushed in struck a cord within him. He zoomed in on her, and confirmed his suspicion.

It was Sarah Raahl, the former instructor of Blue Team.

* * *

"Miss Raahl," Sarah heard someone say over the facility's speakers.

She lifted her gun up, surveying her surroundings. She spotted a camera and shot it out with her remaining shock rounds.

"Now Miss Raahl, that was unnecessary," the unknown man remarked. "I am on your side. Have your team follow my directions, and you will find what you're looking for."

Lee glanced at her, a puzzled expression on his face.

"It's something to go one," she stated.

"Good," the voice in the speakers said. "Now, take the hallway to your right."

Sarah ejected the empty clip in her submachine gun, then replaced it with one loaded with full metal jacketed rounds, darting towards the corridor as she did.

* * *

Sarik knelt down next to Stella, who was panting heavily. Blood already stained her clothing in vast amounts, and it was starting to seep into her flak vest. This wasn't good at all. Sarik had even taken time to apply more clotter, but the scab broke open almost instantly, and was bleeding heavily until he wrapped the wound tightly in fresh gauze.

A tone chimed through the elevator. Sarik looked up at the level display. They were nearly to the top.

Sarik picked Stella up and carried her over by the console. She would be less exposed this way.

* * *

William primed his assault pistol as he charged out of his office. He had barely got back to the surface before the blackout, and now somehow had to get to the underground marina. There, a submarine waited to take him and whatever Extendeds that his men could round up to the new facilities.

This was ridiculous. How could his informant on the Board have been wrong? William knew how the company and his parents worked, how indecisive they were, so why was it any different this time? Why would his parents have any valid reason to doubt him THAT much?

But his brooding went out the window as he forced himself into a doorway and froze. Running down a corridor opposite to his was Blue Team's former instructor and several of his parents' mercenaries.

After he was sure they were past, he pulled out his radio and began to pursue.

"This is the Director," he said into the radio. "All forces are to fall back to the laboratories. Round up what of the children you can, and use them, if necessary."

William replaced the radio into his jacket and broke into a full run.

* * *

Spence flinched as an explosion wracked his office. Apparently, the guards had decided to use a battering ram to breach the door. Shaped explosives set to a pressure trigger caused their plan to backfire on them. Literally.

The door made little difference to Spence, however. Every bit furniture he could move was now braced against the office's entrance. The only thing that remained in its proper place was his desk and the monitor array.

"One last turn to your left and you'll come up on an elevator," he informed Sarah through the speakers as she ran into an office space located in a bulge along the corridor. "Sarik should be up momentarily."

Spence the shut off all of his equipment and initiated a pre-programmed memory wipe of every security system in the facility. All doors would be unlocked, all traps disabled. Nothing would encumber these saviors' progress.

He picked up his pistol as the guards outside of his office began breaking down the furnishings. He spotted a hand burst through the maple-wood bookcase that he had set up as one of the outer barricades.

_I guess I'll be joining you soon,_ he thought to himself as he glanced at his family's portrait one last time. He put the pistol to his temple and fired.

* * *

The elevator doors slid open, and immediately, the guards opened fire into the transportation device, riddling it with bullet holes. But no one was there. They finished unloading their weapons, then reached down to replace their empty magazines.

Sarik slid around the corner and opened fire with his submachine gun. He unloaded the entire clip on the four men, tearing them to shreds as he charged into the corridor and took shelter behind a stack of crates. Apparently, they were in the process of packing everything else in the facility, too. In addition to the cover of the equipment, the facility's primary lighting seemed to be out. Everything was either black or tinted with the dark red of emergency lighting.

Sarik ducked as several guards down the hallway blindly opened fire, filling the small space with several kilograms of lead. When they finished unloading their weapons, they advanced slowly as they reloaded. Sarik remained hidden, waiting for them to make the costly mistake of assuming him dead, reloading as he did.

Sarik listened, waiting. When they were within five meters of him, he slowly peeked over the crates with his gun, lined the sights up, and pulled the trigger.

The closest three guards fell down, dead or incapacitated, Sarik couldn't tell. The others dove for cover among the various pieces of equipment lying around.

Sarik ducked back down, pondering on what to do. If he stayed in any one place for too long, he would be overwhelmed by sheer numbers. But if he got shot, well, he would still be overwhelmed.

Sarik charged from his cover and sprayed the locations of his remaining foes. He caught one as he tried to rise from cover. That man would never get up again.

Sarik ejected the near-empty clip, then loaded a fresh one into his small gun. He had a single magazine left after this. He had to get Stella out of here quickly.

Sarik sprinted back to the elevator, ducked behind the cover of the console, and sprayed at another guard foolish enough to try to gun him down in his retreat. The guard fell back with a single bullet hole in the side of his forehead.

Sarik snatched up the medical kit and knelt in front of Stella as he rummaged through it. He pulled out one syringe that was labeled "Stimulant". Spence had said that in this syringe was the maximum safe dose of adrenaline for someone their age, the most powerful of bodily produced hormones. He popped the cap off and injected the clear substance into Stella's arm.

Within a few seconds, her breathing accelerated, and her eyes shot open. She was in definite pain.

"We have to go," Sarik told her as he removed his flak vest. "Can you hold onto me?"

She nodded with a grimace on her face.

Sarik turned around and bent down, then helped Stella onto his back. He was strained by her weight, but he could carry it. Four months of intense physical conditioning coupled with combat-induced adrenaline did that to a person.

After he was sure Stella had a good grip on him, he grabbed up his flak vest and pulled the remaining clip from it.

"Hold this over your head," he told Stella as he threw his flak vest on top of her. She would be higher up than him, so even if a bullet missed him, it could easily hit her. And there was no saving someone from a head shot.

Sarik picked up his weapon, then charged out of the elevator, firing.

Every time one of the guards moved up to fire at him, Sarik lined up a perfect shot and dropped him. Never once did he stop running, and each fool was eliminated in almost perfect order.

Sarik skidded to a stop at one of the crossways. He stood there for a moment as he let himself remember which way was out.

Seconds later, he was running again, having darted down the corridor to the right. He continued to run, stop, and skirmish for the next five minutes.

Suddenly, he ran up on an intense firefight in what appeared to be an office of some sort. Two groups of adults were combating each other, the young Extendeds fighting for whichever side they fancied. Sarik smirked as he ran into the fray. Apparently, he was not the only one Spence had freed, and that pleased him for some reason.

Sarik figured that the side fighting against the guards were on his side, but he knew that if he just ran up on them with weapon in hand, he would probably be mowed down in the heat of the moment. So after dispatching a guard near him, Sarik sneaked around, trying to find a safe place to hide Stella while he helped the not-guards clear things out. Eventually, he found a desk made out of what appeared to be solid wood, as it had several intentions in it, but no penetration holes. Sarik slid Stella underneath, then left his submachine gun in her hands, as she was returning to her semi-conscious state. She would need quantity, not accuracy, in order to defend herself.

After taking Stella's .44 pistol and two of the spare magazines, Sarik placed his flak vest over her and charged into the fray.

* * *

William observed the firefight in frustration from a distance. He had followed Sarah all the way here, but he was unable to intervene and expect to survive. If he only had a flak vest, he would probably be able to effectively assist his men.

As he watched the melee, he noticed a heavily armed child dart underneath a desk with something large on his back. A moment later, he crawled back out, this time lacking his load and armed with a mere pistol.

_Sarik,_ William deduced.

Sarik soon joined into the fight, and William grew extremely angry when he sneaked up behind two of his guards and dispatched them with almost execution-style shots to the head. Now that Sarik was fighting, things would go downhill for his side. He was sure of it.

William pulled out his radio, then charged into the fray.

"Forces in office section zero nine, there is an incapacitated child underneath the reception desk," he yelled into the device. "Retrieve her, then have the children cover your retreat."

William found himself in a desirable position behind one of his parents' mercenaries, the man concentrating on the battle before him. William almost laughed as he put a three round burst into the back of the man's head.

* * *

Sarik jumped onto the large boy's back and, with the deft movement of a single hand, snapped his neck.

Sarik was about to move on to his next target when he heard his submachine gun go off. He snapped his head in the direction of the desk, then began working his way back towards it. One guard was falling backwards, dead, while two others were diving underneath it. Seconds later, one pulled Stella out, who was struggling futilely.

"Stay away from her!" Sarik yelled, firing a round from his pistol at the antagonist. The round flew straight and true, but, by horrible coincidence, a guard moving to cover from the firefight walked straight into its path and was sent sprawling, the bullet somehow not penetrating his vest.

Sarik was about to shoot again when the guards began retreating, multiple attackers spraying his position with rifle fire. Sarik dove for cover behind another, more cheaply built desk as the enemy line moved past him. When he was no longer the sole item of attention of the guards, Sarik moved out from behind his hiding place, a now-ruined pile of rubble.

Sarik was about to sprint after them when he felt a hand settle lightly on his shoulder. He whipped his pistol around, finger on the trigger, then froze. Kneeling in front of him was Sarah, his old instructor.

"You need to come with me," she told him.

Sarik stood absolutely still for a few seconds, debating. He used to trust her, maybe even like her. But she worked for these people, didn't she? That made her the enemy. And then, to make things worst, she had left them, left them to be made into monsters.

But Sarik couldn't bring himself to shoot her, no more than he could Stella. Instead, he kicked Sarah in the chest with his right knee, then darted off.

Because of wasted time, there were now six armed children standing between him and Stella, protecting sadistic masters who had absolutely no care or respect for their lives.

Sarik let out a cry of sorrow as he charged forward and fired.

* * *

Sarah lifted herself back onto her feet, dazed. Sarik had hit her straight in the heart, knocking her flat on her back and leaving every sense groggy.

Suddenly, Lee was in her face, holding her shoulders.

"Are you all right?" he yelled over the dying battle, his voice barely registering in her ringing ears.

"I'm fine," she replied. "It was Sarik."

"He was that kid?" Lee asked.

Sarah brushed Lee away and glanced down the corridor. Six children of various ages lay sprawled around. She heard a yell, and one of the young girls who had joined the infiltration team just now ran to the side of one of the body's, that of a boy who appeared a year or two her senior, and began crying.

Then, Sarah snapped back to reality.

"We have to go!" she yelled.

Sarik didn't run because of her. He ran because they took Stella.

* * *

William sprinted desperately down the hallways. Bodies littered the corridor, all Sarik's victims. He now knew his brother would have no reserves about killing him.

They were nearly there. It was just another minute or so before they reached the elevator.

Then, he heard a yell. And not a child's yell.

* * *

"William!" Lee roared as he proceeded down the corridors.

He could hear footsteps ahead. He was gaining ground on them.

He continued to sprint up the hallway, and soon ran up on Sarik, who was moving as fast as his young body could run, and then some.

As Lee moved up beside Sarik, he sensed nothing but coldness emanating from the child. The boy glanced over at Lee, and he realized that Sarik was deciding whether or not he was a threat. If Sarik decided that he was, there was nothing Lee could do about the actions that would follow.

An eternity later, Sarik turned his gaze forward and ran even faster. Lee nearly grunted. So he wasn't considered a threat. He was almost insulted.

Lee darted forward at his fastest pace, passing the child quickly and gaining ground on the retreating guards. As Lee turned the corner, he found himself three meters away from the barrels of two guard's guns. The men fired, and all should have ended.

But Lee noticed them in time to allow his momentum to carry him further in the direction he was already traveling, avoiding the hail of bullets, and to counterattack with two well-placed rounds from his rifle in mid-run, dropping each of the men instantly.

He charged forward, killing one guard after the other. At the end of the corridor, the two doors to a freight elevator slowly slid open. Between him and William were half a dozen guards. Piece of cake, for a Coordinator.

Thirty seconds later, all six guards were dead or incapacitated, but the elevator doors were closing. Lee ran up to the elevator's doors and opened fire with his rifle at William and his two guards, careful to avoid shooting the girl who was braced against the back wall.

Nothing left the barrel but clicks. A jam.

Lee froze as the two guards pointed their weapons at him.

"Hold," William ordered calmly.

Both men moved their fingers off of their rifle's triggers, but kept the weapons pointed at Lee, nonetheless.

William slowly and exaggeratedly walked to the cargo lift's doors, which were about halfway closed.

"The moment I met you, I knew there was something wrong," Lee taunted. "I didn't want to think I was right, nor did I think I ever would be."

"I never did like my parents' meddlesome caretakers," William admitted. "At least now I can relieve my brother of that curse."

And with that, William pointed his pistol at Lee and fired.

* * *

Sarik and Sarah skidded around the corner to find Lee just standing in front of the elevator.

_All of these adults are idiots,_ Sarik thought as he charged forward, slamming a new magazine into his pistol.

When Sarik was halfway down the corridor, a series of gun shots rang out, and Lee collapsed backwards.

Standing in his place was William.

This was Sarik's chance. His chance to kill the man, and to save Stella.

"I'll save you, Stella!" Sarik yelled as he raised his pistol and fired.

The round flew forward. Sarik continued running as he watched the bullet travel in slow motion towards the closing doors, towards the unsuspecting William.

Then, the doors locked closed as the round was mere centimeters from them. A small spark was the only indication that the bullet ever made contact with anything.

Sarik continued running forward, tears falling from his eyes, pain wracking his body. He was hurting two-fold, as his body was entering withdrawal from the drugs, and simultaneously, he knew that he had just lost Stella.

Sarik jumped over Lee's body and rammed futilely into the elevator doors. He smashed his fists against the metal, then, when that didn't work, he stood back a meter and fired his gun. And fired. And fired. And several more times, fired, completely disregarding the fact that the armor-piercing rounds were ricocheting all over the place.

Sarik collapsed to the ground and began convulsing, his nervous system collapsing in on itself. Or it would be, if this had been any time but his first use of that drug.

* * *

Sarah ran over and knelt beside Sarik. He was sprawled out on the floor, writhing in an uncontrolled fashion.

She attempted to grab him to keep him from hurting himself, but he batted her away.

"No!" he yelled. "No, no, no!"

"What is it Sarik?" Sarah yelled as she got a grip on him.

"No!" he cried, trying to bash the back of his head into the floor.

Something was wrong. They had done something to him, and it was going wrong.

"Stella!" Sarik screamed loudly as he began loosing his strength. "I'll save you. I promise!"

Sarik continued to cry her name out for another minute, then fell unconscious.

* * *

Stella listened as something smashed into the elevator doors, followed by several ringing sounds. They all echoed through her head, the result of blood loss and exhaustion equivalent to that of several days.

"Stella!" a muffled voice rang out. "I'll save you! I promise!"

And then, the elevator began descending, muffling any other outside sounds. Stella allowed herself to fall unconscious, as she knew everything would be all right. He had just said so.

* * *

William situated himself in his seat, anxiously waiting for the launch. The sooner they left, the better.

He was growing extremely annoyed at the children. They just couldn't sit still, could they? They always had to express the interest or excitement with yells and shrieks, even after all of the memory wipes, didn't they?

Then, he felt the submarine lurch forward. They were safe, at least for the moment.

William suddenly realized he was tired. Odd that he hadn't noticed that before. He decided to lean back in his seat and rest his eyes for a little while. Moments later, he was snoring loudly in a slumber, and children were pointing and gawking at him obnoxiously.

* * *

Laura stepped out of the APC onto the ruined base. She was very disturbed. All of this, the men, the buildings, the equipment, had been financed with the corporation's money. How could William have deceived them for so long?

Beside Laura, Derick, her husband, followed, though with a far more delicate and proud posture. He had always emphasized his outward appearance, believing that it brought inspiration to those he worked with.

Laura was wary of advancing any further, as gunshots could still be heard from all over the place. But, as if to quell her fears, she and Derick were assured by one of the mercenaries that this area was completely secure.

Laura stared in amazement at the wrecks of the vehicles that littered the immediate vicinity. Four tanks, lined up perfectly, ready to fight off the advance force. In each was a single, perfectly placed hole bored through the cockpit. A testament to the power and accuracy of the new railguns that the world's military's had dubbed "linear cannons". There was no doubt in her mind that Derick had used this incident as an opportunity to test them for himself.

Laura found herself standing still and alone in thought, and she had to run forward in order to catch up with her husband. Long ago, he had come to tolerate her bad habit of drifting off, and unless the situation was perilous, he respected her enough to not disturb her.

They neared the facility, where children were being escorted or carried out by the dozens. Some of them, she noted, weren't even breathing.

Then one person caught her eye. Laura hadn't recognized her at first. Sarah, the former Blue Cosmos member, walked out of the facility, carrying Sarik. Both were covered in sweat and blood, cuts and bruises.

Laura ran forward to see her son. As she got closer, she almost screamed.

This was not the boy that she had left with Lee at the beginning of the summer. He was different. Battered, scarred, weathered. And he was bigger. At the beginning of the summer, he stood about one hundred twenty centimeters tall. Now, he had to be a quarter of that height taller. Whatever William had done to him was terrible and intrusive, and in no way could be good for Sarik's long-term health.

But she was less concerned about his physical well-being, and more of his mind. How had it affected him? Was he even the same person?

No, not after this. His mind going to be as scarred and battered as his body.

Sarah walked up to Laura and sat Sarik on the ground in front of her. Laura knelt down and began cradle her son.

Derick seemed to almost completely ignore his child as he walked over to join the two women.

"Where is William?" he asked Sarah coldly as she stood back up.

"He got away," she replied with a hint of contempt on her voice.

* * *

"And Lee?" Derick inquired.

"William killed him," Sarah informed him, the sorrow obvious in her voice, even to herself.

"Very well," Derick sighed before strolling towards the facility. "A shame, really."

And as he left, everything was suddenly brought to light. It was no longer a mystery to her why William turned out the way he did. Though he and his father did not share a hatred of Coordinators, they did share one thing.

They were both cold and uncaring bastards.

**_*******__  
_**

_**Author's Notes** _

_I would like to take this time to thank the dedicated readers who have continued to support me as I have authored this title. I am truly honored to be able to write for such supportive, and sometimes critical, individuals, who have helped me become a better writer, and through those writings, a better person, by revealing to myself what kind of person I am. I hope you all continue to read, and keep bringing on the reviews. _

_I have taken the time to compile a playlist for this fiction, basically consisting of the same setup as the GS and GSD series music. I don't think that it will be hard to figure out which are the opening, closing and filler songs, though if you need clarification, please state such in your review, and I will make adjustments to the playlist's description. Remove the spaces in the link.  
_

http: / /w w w . im eem. com /people/ 2Ar_gBx /playlist/ W_2bNEUV /ressurection_and_reconciliation_music_playlist/

I do not own Mobile Suit Gundam, Gundam Seed, Gundam Seed Destiny, Gundam SEED Astray, or any of the characters within the before-mentioned fictions. I do claim ownership of the original characters within this story, and request that others not use them.

I do not own the songs within the playlist in above link(s), nor do I own the website on which they are posted.


	18. Chapter 17

**CE 74**

Sarik sat in the cockpit of his Astray, trying to remain as relaxed as possible, though he was probably the most tense individual currently aboard the ship. Up until a few minutes ago, Sarik and the other docked pilots had been performing battle simulations aboard their units. Sarik knew that he needed to progress his piloting and teamwork skills as quickly as he could, especially for situations like this.

Sarik continued to observe the feed that was being forwarded to his mobile suit from the _Ares_'s instruments. Five radar contacts were closing in on the convoy at supersonic speeds, flying in a perfect military formation. When the airship had broken off to intercept them a few moments earlier, they conveniently and immediately began giving off ZAFT transponder codes, just as Sarik had feared. Either these were fakes from one of his other enemies, or these were the real deal trying to keep as quiet as possible about their operations.

As the five objects sped into communication's range, the _Ares_ identified them as AMA-953 BABIs. These were ZAFT's new aerial combat mobile suits, capable of transforming between a fighter-like configuration and the traditional humanoid mobile suit form, similar in design to the Orb Union's MVF-M11C Murasame's. In addition to this advantageous feature, the BABI mobile suit was armed with four 22.5mm machine guns and a heavy impulse cannon in addition to any weapons it carried, along with an array of missiles that accompanied almost every atmospheric superiority craft. This machine had nearly four times the firepower and adaptability of any DINN variant.

But their firepower was not what concerned Sarik. His success in the last fight gave him at least some confidence in his own abilities, in regard to evasion, anyway, and now that he was in his personal mobile suit, he believed that a fight would go a lot more smoothly than last time, or would have, if he was only protecting the _Ares_. It was the convoy that he feared for, because for the defense of the entire air group were two Skygrapsers, the two Murasames docked beside him, his M1A, and the meager defenses that some of the transports came equipped with for last ditch purposes due to their ex-military nature. At the moment, only the Skygraspers were in the air, currently refueling with the convoy's two tankers in preparation for a seemingly imminent confrontation.

"This is Commander Dominic Raider of ZAFT combat air patrol C-2344," the ZAFT flight leader transmitted via audio. "I need to speak to your supervisor."

Sarik buckled himself into the chair and set his helmet up on the side console, his gut telling him that trouble was coming. He tapped a few keys on his comm unit and a young man's face, partially hidden by a red ZAFT flight helmet, soon appeared in his right communications screen. However much the helmet obscured of the commander's face, Sarik could still perceive a definite resemblance to Anika Raider, especially in the eyes.

"This is President Sarik Ostheim, representing Silver Shield Incorporated aboard the atmospheric aircraft carrier _Ares_," Sarik responded. "We are currently escorting a relief convoy to Western Eurasia. We're not here to cause anyone trouble, if that's what you're worried about."

"Your ship, the _Ares_, matches the configuration of a craft that was involved in an engagement with ZAFT forces approximately twenty-four hours ago," the Commander informed Sarik. "We'll have to require that your ship break off from the convoy and follow us back to Carpenteria for further investigation."

Sarik cut the transmission and sighed as he placed his helmet onto his head and sealed it into his crimson-trimmed black flight suit.

"All forces are to go to condition yellow," Sarik ordered the _Ares_'s commander after keying the comm unit once more. "Have the Murasames launch immediately after me."

Sarik brought his mobile suit, already on the launch catapult, into a crouch as the device powered up and the hangar doors slid open. He waited a moment for the launch indicator to give him the green light.

"Sarik Ostheim, Astray, engaging," Sarik reported calmly just before initiating the launch. He was forced backwards into the pilot's chair as the mobile suit was tossed forward and out of the back of the airship.

"President Ostheim, our radar shows that a craft has just taken off from your carrier," the commander informed Sarik over the audio. "Do not launch any more vehicles, or you will be considered hostile."

Sarik had neither the time nor the care to stop the Murasame's launches, which were just seconds behind each other, made possible because of their fighter mode.

"I repeat, continued launches will be considered HOSTILE!" Sarik heard Dominic yelled over the audio.

"_Ares_, have the CIWS lock onto the BABIs," Sarik ordered the ship, then keyed to a more general channel. "All aerial forces, ready your weapons."

Sarik went about doing the same, then turned his attention to maneuvering his machine. The M1A was a space variant of the more common M1 Astray, with high maneuverability and speed in mind. The problem was that even though Sarik had the past year integrating better hardware, such as Morgenroete's new flight-capable Aile Striker, and improving the software to allow effective performance in the atmosphere, he still had to give the task of flying his full effort, even without the imbalance of his shield. One slip up, and they might mistake his movements as a hostile maneuver in the heat of the moment.

"This is Commander Raider," Sarik heard a distressed voice say over the radio. "Respond now, or we will open fire!"

Sarik glanced over the radar. The BABIs were scattering, even though they were just barely within range of the convoy's weapons. At this point, they were so disorganized that Sarik could personally pick them off one by one, if he had to. He could tell from the way that they were reacting that they weren't looking for a fight. They had assumed that he would just give in like the compliant civilian he was supposed to be.

"This is Ostheim," Sarik said over an international band, doing his best to keep fear out of his voice. "The _Ares_ will continue to its intended destination. If you so wish, you may escort us to Eurasia and settle matters there. We will be more than willing to allow you access to our refueling facilities for the remainder of the flight."

Sarik continued to circle around the broken BABI formation in a waltz of death, ready to fight at a split second's notice. One BABI buzzed past him, rushing towards the _Ares_. Sarik turned and locked onto him with his rifle. The M1A carried a supercharged sniper variant of the Astray's beam rifle. One shot was all he needed to take down an enemy craft.

Suddenly, the BABI transformed to its humanoid form and joined Sarik in his dance, a rifle in its hand now pointed back at him.

"Your terms are...acceptable," the commander growled over the radio after a moment of silence. "Continue on your present course."

Sarik sighed and brought his hand up to wipe his sweaty brow, only to realize that his helmet blocked him.

* * *

Stella walked in through the door that Sarah had just opened for her. Inside was a sizable living room with doors branching off to other parts of the quarters.

"This is where you will be staying," Sarah informed her. "We figured since Sarik will be taking responsibility for your welfare, it would be easier for the two of you to be living in the same space."

Stella had wondered what all those boxes outside the door were for. Apparently, Sarik had been kind enough to clear out a place for her.

Stella glanced around the room, observing its setup. It was immaculate, everything placed in a logical and orderly fashion. Lamps, books, pictures, even a small aquarium were positioned efficiently.

The first thing that caught Stella's attention was long, thin table that seemed out of place, located immediately beside one of the doors. Nearly two dozen photographs rested atop it in gold-lined frames. Curiosity drew her towards it as she glanced over the individuals frozen in the well-defined images.

Stella was especially curious of the pictures located towards the center of the collection. Setting in the largest frame in the middle of the table was a picture of a child that looked like a much younger version of Sarik, a middle-aged woman, who was the only person smiling, and a man even older than her, who's stance and expression sent chills up and down Stella's spine.

To the right of that picture was another of Sarik, this time with Sarah. He was a little older now, but his expression was an almost perfect imitation of that man's in the middle picture, even more defined than his expression at an earlier age. Only Sarah seemed happy, even somewhat playful, with her arms wrapped around him.

To the left of the center picture was another, smaller photograph. Sarik was about the same age in it as in the last one, but he seemed a little more relaxed. While he still wasn't smiling, he was emanating some sort of peace. Beside him were two slightly younger children, a girl with gray eyes and short, light blond hair, the other a boy with green eyes and an uncontrolled red mane. Both were obviously enjoying themselves.

But the last picture, the one displayed in a most discreet fashion, was the one that captured her attention the most. Stella seemed to recognize this girl, with golden blond hair that fell past her shoulders and large, purple eyes that gave her an air of innocence. But she couldn't put her finger on who it was.

Sarah, who had been elsewhere prior, walked up behind Stella.

"Quite a collection he has, isn't it?" she asked rhetorically as she took her place next to Stella.

Stella simply nodded her head, still intent on the pictures in front of her.

"That one in the center is a picture of Sarik and his parents," Sarah informed her. "It was taken on his tenth birthday."

"Parents?" Stella asked. It was a word she was unfamiliar with.

"We'll discuss that later," Sarah assured her, recognizing the confused tone in Stella's voice.

"Who...are they?" Stella asked Sarah, pointing at the picture with the two children.

"That would be Amelia and Aaron," Sarah informed Stella. "We rescued them along with Sarik at the Blue Cosmos facility. You should recognize the girl. You met her once."

Stella stared at the picture intently. No matter how hard she concentrated, she couldn't recall ever meeting this girl. And what was Blue Cosmos? It was all so confusing.

"When Sarik met them, it was the first time in years that I had actually seen him truly happy," Sarah continued. "They're the closest things to friends that he's had his entire life."

Stella smiled slightly at this. He always seemed so serious, so cold, and maybe even a little bossy. This showed that there was the someone she knew to be underneath all of that.

But one thing was still nagging at the back of her mind. That last picture. The one of the girl by herself. Stella stared at it for nearly a minute before asking.

"Who is she?" Stella asked.

"That was you," Sarah told her bluntly. "Eleven years ago."

* * *

Sarik let out a sigh of relief as he landed his mobile suit, walking to a stop. He had been piloting the Astray since the run-in with the ZAFT forces out of Carpenteria, re-energizing the mech in mid-air. He personally did not trust them to NOT open fire on the convoy at the first chance they got, especially considering who their commander was, who Sarik found out to be Anika's elder brother.

Sarik walked the machine forward, moving towards the makeshift runway on which the _Ares_ had been instructed to land. When he was about ten meters away, he stood the mobile suit erect and opened the cockpit, separating the panels. After unstrapping himself and removing his helmet, he grabbed the cable hanging from the top of the cramped compartment and looped his foot into the small ring at the bottom. A few seconds later, the cable began unwinding, slowly lowering him to the ground.

As soon as Sarik made contact with the tarmac, he was greeted by Commander Raider, who now carried his helmet in the crook of his arm, and several ZAFT marines, all whom had their weapons pointed threateningly at him.

"You're coming with me," the pilot ordered Sarik.

Sarik nodded his head in compliance, then walked forward with his hands clasped behind his back, finding that he stood a centimeter or two shorter than the young man, who appeared to be about the same age as him. Despite this, Sarik's posture remained most arrogant.

"Will you please lead the way?" Sarik requested when he found himself standing next to the commander.

The man simply turned and began walking, Sarik and the marines not far behind.

A few minutes later, the small group arrived at what appeared to be a prefabricated living structure of some sort. It was apparent that the damage done in Eurasia wasn't exaggerated. Even the most basic of infrastructure was badly devastated.

The Sarik followed the commander into the small structure, but none of the marines continued on, instead taking up guard around the trailer's perimeter. Once inside, Sarik realized the building was only occupied by a single middle-aged man in a white ZAFT uniform, sitting behind an improvised desk with no aides of any sort nearby.

"Commander," Sarik greeted as he nodded his head.

"Are you Sarik Ostheim?" the middle-aged man asked in a matter-of-fact tone.

Sarik strolled forward and took position in front of the desk, standing in an erect, military-like posture.

"Yes," Sarik replied confidently, relaxing his shoulders a little.

"I understand that our friend from Carpenteria has a grievance against you," the older man remarked as he glanced over at Raider. "He and his superiors claim that you were involved in a skirmish with ZAFT forces."

"Sir, if I may be allowed to explain my side of the story?" Sarik requested.

"Commander Brown, this is ridiculous," Dominic remarked calmly to the officer. "We should have him detained while we better investigate the incident."

"I think that would be completely inappropriate, considering that neither you nor your commanding officer have been able to provide me neither a hard copy of your sister's orders or a detailed report of the incident," Brown scolded Dominic. "She was working outside the normal chain of command, thus the situation will be dealt with in the same manner. If you can locate someone who is willing to claim responsibility for the entire affair, THEN I will be required to take action. Now, President Ostheim, you may enlighten us of why five of our DINNs intercepted your craft yesterday without appropriate authorization."

Sarik was about to start when Dominic stormed out of the room.

"Don't bother!" he yelled rudely back into the trailer.

Both Sarik and Commander Brown remained there, stunned.

Sarik remained quiet, and it was the commander who broke the silence with a sigh.

"That could have gone better," he remarked. "It's unfortunate he does not fall under my chain, or I would have him thrown in the brig."

"Sir?" Sarik asked. He was obviously out of the loop, big time.

"It should suffice to say that there's been a lot of tension between commands," Brown told him. "Those on the Asian and Pacific fronts want to launch an all-out attack on the Atlantic Federation and its allies, as retaliation for what happened here three days ago. That's all I can say. It's apparent that someone outside of the normal chain of command is looking to make us a reason."

"I'm surprised they haven't tried before," Sarik admitted.

"Well, I think you saw how much damage has been done on your flight in," Brown said grimly. "Right now I'm more worried about recouping our losses than adding to them, which has been a somewhat difficult feat with the loss of the last commander a few days ago."

"I might be able to help with that," Sarik told the Commander. "I have three transports carrying a total of ten GINNs of several variants, but we currently don't have anyone piloting them. They're not much, but you can consider them yours."

"Nothing like that comes free," Brown observed. "What do you want?"

"Access to the Destroy wreckage," Sarik replied bluntly.

"Out of the question," the commander responded almost instantly.

"Sir, my technicians recently informed me that there may have been several technologies used aboard that machine of which my corporation has exclusive patents to," Sarik informed the commander. "I would merely like a chance to survey the devices in question before your technicians gut them so that we may be able to better determine who stole our technology and file the appropriate lawsuits."

"I would suggest you leave with your mobile suits, now, before I have you arrested," Brown suggested. "I don't take well to bribery attempts."

Sarik stared long and hard at the base's new commander.

"I'm sorry you feel that way," Sarik told him before leaving.

* * *

Sarik climbed aboard the _Ares_, a defeated look on his face. He knew it was a long shot for his plan to work, but he still couldn't stop himself from feeling down about the affair. After the elevator raised him to the lower level, he walked to the captain's quarters and collapsed face first onto the bed.

"Well, well, the invincible Sarik Ostheim returns defeated, does he?" a woman's voice remarked from the corner of his room.

Sarik bolted up instantly, his side-arm unholstered and pointed at the voice's point of origin by the time he stood erect.

"No need for that," the voice cooed.

Sarik's eyes adjusted to the darkness, and he realized that the person standing in the corner was none other than Amelia.

"Haven't I told you to stay out of my room?" Sarik remarked as he collapsed back onto the bed. "It gives people the wrong idea."

"And what idea would that be?" Amelia asked flirtatiously as she walked towards him.

"There are only so many things that can happen between two people alone in a room," Sarik informed Amelia. "And I don't want anyone to even consider most of them."

Amelia stopped and pulled a chair up next to the bed, sitting gracefully into it.

"So I guess you don't want to know that Aaron is at this very moment herding an Atlantic Federation land battleship in this direction?" the blond asked.

"And how would he be doing this?" Sarik questioned, rolling over and sitting up.

"With a GINN OCHER Arctic," Amelia informed him.

"I didn't authorize any OCHER-types for this mission," Sarik stated.

"Let's just say that Aaron and I decided to hijack one of your planes and change the load a little bit," Amelia told Sarik.

"Denying thousands of refugees food and supplies in the process?" Sarik asked in disgust.

"Nope," she replied. "It was the empty transport that you planned to fill with salvage from the Destroy."

Sarik sighed.

"I would appreciate if you didn't go behind my back like this," Sarik told Amelia. "And I doubt the unconscious pilots back home appreciate it, either."

"You'll thank me in the long-run," Amelia told.

"I probably will," Sarik agreed in a huff.

Suddenly, an alarm went off, and Sarik was on his feet and running in less than a second.

"Yellow alert," someone announced over the ship's speakers. "All pilots to the ready room."

Sarik was waiting for the elevator when Amelia strolled casually up next to him. He hated how she could do that.

"Looks like Aaron did his job well," Amelia remarked.

"Let's just hope that we get a chance to launch," Sarik said pessimistically.

"I guess you wouldn't want to know..." Amelia started.

"I don't," Sarik interrupted as rudely as he possibly could.

Amelia simply smirked and stepped into the elevator when the doors parted. Sarik walked in behind her and hit a button on the command console, causing the elevator to descend towards the boarding ramp.

A minute later, the two were off of the _Ares_ and walking towards Sarik's Astray.

When Sarik placed his foot into the ring on the mobile suit's boarding cable, he was stopped by Amelia as the small girl forced her foot in beside his.

"I'm flying," he told her, catching on to her silent request.

Amelia's smile grew wider as she grabbed onto the cable. A couple seconds later, Sarik could hear the strained whirring of the cable's motor, and the two began rising at a slower than normal pace.

An agonizing minute later, Sarik climbed into the Astray's cockpit and situated himself in the pilot's chair. Amelia took position to the right and behind of Sarik in the cramped compartment.

"Input Aaron's comm frequency," Sarik ordered Amelia, activating the comm unit and closing the cockpit.

She leaned over and did so.

"Aaron, this is Sarik," he said into the comm unit. "Are you picking up?"

A few seconds later, a young man with a mane of unkempt red hair appeared in Sarik's left comm screen, the loud sounds of battle dominating the audio.

"Kinda busy," Aaron told Sarik, and a look of strain formed on his face as a nearby explosion rocked his mobile suit. "I have five Windams on my case, and they don't look like they're giving up any time soon."

"Just keep an eye out for the REAL ZAFT forces," Sarik informed him. "They should be on their way soon."

"About that..." Amelia started.

"Oh, hell," Sarik remarked under his breath, already having an idea of what she did.

Suddenly, on Sarik's right comm screen, Dominic Raider's face appeared.

"What the hell did you do to my mobile suit?!" the ZAFT commander yelled, his face appearing on the right comm screen.

Sarik flipped a switch, and his left comm screen went blank.

"I haven't been anywhere near your machine, if my memory serves me correctly," Sarik informed him in a barely controlled tone.

"Commander Raider, calm yourself!" Sarik could hear Commander Brown yell over the comm from the other pilot's audio.

Sarik extended the Astray's keyboard, and a few seconds later, jacked into the frequency being used by the ZAFT pilots.

"Sir, what appears to be the problem?" Sarik inquired.

"The problem is that you froze all the BABIs' systems, literally!" Dominic yelled. "It's like you poured liquid nitrogen over the computer cores."

"Or, it could be that it's negative forty degrees Celsius outside, and that your machines aren't adapted for this weather," Commander Brown suggested. "We had the same problem when we brought in reinforcements for the Destroy attack."

"What is the situation?" Sarik asked, already knowing the answer.

"There is a single _Hannibal_-class land battleship moving in Berlin's direction," the ZAFT commander informed Sarik. "Several Windams are escorting it, and we don't know how many more there are aboard that haven't launched yet."

"My forces can engage it, if you would like," Sarik offered. "There aren't many of us, but we can keep them away from the base until you have some machines available."

"We would appreciate that," the commander told Sarik. "You may engage at your leisure."

And with that, Commander Brown's face disappeared from Sarik's comm screen.

"Sir, don't you realize he just hacked our frequencies?!" Sarik heard Dominic yell.

"And don't you realize you're the most useless soldier I've ever met?" Sarik heard Brown berate before the comm screen went blank.

Sarik sighed. He just knew that Dominic was going to take a shot at him sooner or later.

However, Sarik quickly snapped out of his self-pity and contacted the _Ares_.

"Launch all forces," Sarik ordered. "Equip the Skygrapsers with Launcher Strikers."

* * *

Stella sat on the bed as she held the picture in her hands, staring at it intently, taking note the girl's every aspect. Was this really her, that many years ago? She didn't know. She just couldn't remember that much from back then. Fragments of memory were all she had, and only as of recent.

She ran her hand through her shoulder-length hair, thinking. How well had she known Sarik? Had they really been that close, that he would search the world to find her years later?

Stella looked up from the picture and glanced around the room that she sat in. The shelves and dressers were completely empty. Nothing sat atop them but recently disturbed dust. Nothing about it was familiar. It wasn't hers.

"Stella?" she heard Sarah call from the other room.

Stella stood, then propped the picture of herself on top of the nearby dresser. It would be the first thing of hers in this room.

Stella walked silently into the living room to find Sarah staring at the line of pictures, the table located immediately outside of Stella's new room.

"I thought we could go to town," Sarah told her. "See if we can find you some clothes."

Stella looked down at the white long sleeved shirt and trousers she wore and found nothing wrong with them. True, they weren't as flexible as her military uniform or one of her dresses, but they were comfortable, and did an adequate job at hiding the scars that currently covered her body, though she had been assured those would be gone with time.

"You can't borrow my clothes forever," Sarah informed her. "I'll run out, sooner or later."

Stella simply nodded and waited for Sarah to head for the door before following.

* * *

Sarik sat, waiting. He had equipped his mobile suit with its shield this time, as he would need to be able to dig into his position rather than go all out on the offensive. He had to keep the Earth Forces from advancing until the Murasames and Skygraspers got here.

At the moment, Sarik was crouching his Astray mid-way up the slope of a particularly large hill. His sensor array showed the land battleship heading in this direction, so he had set up in the best position he could in order to make use of his sniper rifle. After he fired the first shots, the Murasames and the Skygraspers would fly in to engage the Windams.

Sarik waited for what seemed like eternity before the first signs of approaching battle revealed themselves. The _Hannibal_-class land battleship steamed into the valley, splintering trees and displacing tons of snow. Flying through the air in an agitated fashion were at least five Jet Windams, three of which had sustained noticeable damage.

Sarik waited for Aaron to begin his attacks once more, but his GINN was nowhere to be found. Sarik hoped that he was hiding, and not dead.

But all worries left Sarik as his training took over and he prepared to fire his first shot. The various indicators on the Astray's display slowly locked onto the lead Windam, then turned red. Sarik fired, and an overpowered beam cut through the air, spearing the blue-trimmed mobile suit directly through the power supply. The machine exploded in mid-air, peppering the area around it with shrapnel. As Sarik traced the fallin debris, he thought he spotted something odd in one of the forests ons a distant slope.

But Sarik snapped to and launched into action. Activating the Astray's engines, he flew backwards up the face of the hill, blasting away at the Windams, whose attention was now on him. Several green-colored beams lanced out from their rifles, one of which Sarik was forced to block with his shield. The particle beam was completely absorbed by his shield, leaving a tiny, smoking crater in the armored frame.

Sarik continued taking careful shots at his foes, clipping one Windam in its Striker pack, forcing him into a crash landing, and blasting another in its shield arm, disabling the pilot's ability to protect himself from future attacks.

Sarik was starting to worry about being surrounded as the Windams began flanking him when the Skygraspers and the Murasames blazed over a nearby ridge, letting loose a barrage of machine gun, beam cannon, and missile fire. Two of the Windams were destroyed outright, and another was in the process of spiraling towards the ground.

Sarik changed his attention from the mobile suits to the land battleship. All of its bay doors had opened, and Sarik could see the glow of mobile suit head cameras inside. He glanced over the frame quickly, trying to discern its weapons, but realized that every one of the turrets atop the transport was totaled. Apparently, Aaron was far better in a mobile suit than Sarik had ever imagined. Sarik opened fire with his sniper rifle, cutting into the behemoth's frame. Several of Sarik's shots hit a tread, and the machine collapsed to one side under its own weight.

Sarik launched his machine into the air when four Windams charged straight at him from inside the battleship, two equipped with Jet Strikers firing relentlessly with their beam rifles, while the other two, equipped with Aile Striker packs, darted forward with their beam sabers drawn. Sarik returned fire, spearing one of the advancing melee units through the head and into the body just before the pilot gained his bearings.

Sarik knew he was in trouble, but no one was around to save him, engaged by the remaining Windams launched from the land battleship. He decided to move in on the offensive.

Dropping his rifle and shield, Sarik launched his Astray into the air and dove towards his determined attackers while he drew the mobile suit's two beam sabers. As he catapulted through the air, he performed an action totally unexpected, something the average mobile suit was simply not designed to do. He brought the butt end of the energy swords together, special adaptions connecting them into a single, staff-like weapon. While Sarik knew that using them separately gave him more control, this configuration allowed him a larger element of unpredictability.

Sarik clashed with his foes in midair, slashing swiftly at the Windams. He was met head-on by the remaining melee unit, his attacks quickly blocked. However, Sarik used his momentum to literally bounce off of this opponent and move on to the next nearest Windam. The other pilot was caught off-guard, and Sarik slashed through the shield arm and head of the mobile suit, rendering the pilot blind and defenseless.

As the crippled mobile suit plummeted towards the ground, Sarik continued on towards the final in the line, who was more than prepared for him by now. Sarik found his first cuts blocked by the Windam's shield, which could hold up to anything short of ship-grade weaponry. The Astray was knocked back when the Windam fired its rifle at point blank range, one of the shots cutting into the edge of the mech's left arm.

Sarik began to distress as several alarms went off, indicating damage to the electrical systems and a thirty percent reduction in the left arm's efficiency. He was so distracted by this that he didn't notice the Windam he had failed to damage earlier was slashing out at him from behind until the last second. Sarik cut around to block his opponent, which he did so successfully, though the hilt of the Windam's beam saber was within two meters of the Astray's cockpit as they landed on the ground.

Sarik used his saber staff's advantage and hit the Windam in its shield as hard as his machine could while still blocking his opponents weapon. The Windam was sent stumbling back several meters back by the sheer force, and Sarik was able to launch the Astray away from the hopeless melee and towards the source of the enemy. The battleship.

Sarik flew in at top speed, avoiding the final few Windams that were launching, and slashing a limb off of one that got too close. As Sarik was about to land on the battleship, he caught a Windam just as it took off, cutting cleanly upwards through the body and head. The machine exploded, and Sarik's own mobile suit was forced down onto the _Hannibal_'s chassis.

Sarik stood his machine up as quickly as he could and began slashing into the battleship's frame, cutting large chunks from the behemoth vehicle's hull. When he created a hole of sufficient size, Sarik unloaded the autocannons located in the Astray's head into the _Hannibal_'s interior, destroying equipment, a mobile suit, and causing secondary explosions that rocked the transport.

Sarik's alarms began going off again, and he launched himself off of the ship as that same Aile Windam from earlier charged him at full speed. Sarik avoided the attack by meters, and brought his mobile suit into stance on the ground, one blade pointed at his foe, the other behind him. It was obvious he and this pilot were destined to fight.

Sarik waited for a few seconds for the inevitable attack to come. Then, in less time than it took to blink, the other pilot launched his machine into the air and came falling down towards Sarik. Sarik took a step back and brought his weapon to bear, blocking the attack with the blade that had been behind him, and retaliating with a swipe from the other end of his sword. That attack, in turn, was blocked by the bottom of the Windam's shield, and the duel truly began.

* * *

Stella took everything in as Sarah drove the small blue car through the town. The community didn't have any large buildings, but there was something that brought about a sense of unexplainable awe in this ocean-side community. It reminded her of a place that she had visited once before, but she couldn't remember exactly when or where.

Stella glanced once more in concern at the side-view mirror on the right door. Since she and Sarah had entered town, two large, black cars had been tailing them. She wasn't sure if Sarah was aware of this or not.

Sarah pulled up to a small plaza and parked the car. From here, Stella had a clear view of the ocean. There was always something about it that mystified her. She continued to stare at the flowing waters, watching how they seemed to go on forever...

Then, something got in the way of her view. Or someone.

"It's alright to come out," Sarah remarked as she opened Stella's door.

Stella cautiously left the vehicle, observing her surroundings. She took note of every store, where some connected, of the vehicles in the parking lot, of the number of people within each store, and of the two black cars parking several meters down the lot.

Sarah traced Stella's stares, and also spotted the two vehicles.

"They're ours," she told Stella. "Sarik would have a fit if he found out they weren't here."

Stella raised her head slightly in understanding, then followed Sarah, who had began walking towards one of the stores.

"I figured we should find you some day clothes first," Sarah told her. "If that's alright with you."

Stella snapped out of another one of her dazes. The ocean had caught her attention once more.

"Uh huh," Stella agreed dreamily.

* * *

Sarik blocked another flurry of blows from the Windam, clubbing his beam staff into its shield with all of his Astray's might. If he could damage or destroy the shield, he would more quickly be able to destroy the mobile suit. He could already see several fracture points in the metal frame from his beatings.

But the other pilot quickly caught on, and launched himself into the air to get away from Sarik's assault. When the Windam was about ten meters away from him, the pilot pointed the bottom of his shield at the Astray and fired something.

"Shit!" Sarik yelled as he flew his mobile suit backwards at full speed, a pair of missiles flying straight towards him.

Sarik continued his backwards flight, eventually catching the attention of a skirmishing Jet Windam who had just shot down one of the Skygraspers. The Earth Alliance pilot dove in towards Sarik, firing his beam rifle relentlessly but inaccurately.

Sarik forced his Astray into an ascension, causing one of the missiles to slam into the ground. The other missile followed Sarik.

However, by the time it reached him, Sarik had slammed backwards into the Windam and forced its shield arm just enough to redirect the defense into the missile's path.

The shield and missile both exploded in a spectacular show of fireworks, sending Sarik and the Windam flying in a mid-air tussle. The Windam attempted bring its rifle into an awkward to bear on Sarik, but the Extended noticed this all too quickly, and brought his beam staff, held in his left hand, up, slicing the massive gun in half. Sarik managed to break free of the falling machine just before it smashed into the ground.

But Sarik wasn't faring much better. Though he was able to bring his jets online in time to dampen the impact, Amelia let out a light yell as his mobile suit also slammed into the earth, bouncing once before coming to a rest.

Alarms began going off in Sarik's cockpit, but after snapping out of his daze that resulted from the impact, he glanced over everything and decided that nothing was damaged. Much.

"You alright?" Sarik yelled at Amelia, his ears ringing. He was surprised, as she had been silent almost the entire time.

"Watch out!" she screamed, ignoring Sarik's concern.

Sarik glanced up, remembering the fight, and realized that his rival had caught back up with him, careening through the air and bringing his beam saber down on Sarik, the full force of gravity behind it. Sarik knew that there was little he could do at this point, and brought his beam staff up futilely. Everything was about to end. At least he would go down in flames.

But suddenly, time seemed to slow, and he perceived everything more clearly. Just like the first time he had fought, near Australia. He saw his enemy's weakness, and he saw how to get out of this alive. He could SEE what he had to do.

Sarik pushed his rear thrusters to their max, forcing the Astray's body up at an alarming rate, the body groaning under the stressful forces of gravity. He then used the thrusters built into the Astray's arms to reinforce his attack, slowly launching himself towards the Windam, clashing just above the ground.

And his attack blocked the Windam's cut, and forced it's way into the sword, and through his arm.

Time nearly froze for Sarik for a short moment at the peak of his attack. Never would he have been able to think of something like this on his own in the heat of battle. Not this quickly.

But his time for thought ended, and everything returned to normal speed. Sarik no longer needed this boon. He slashed through the Windam's head, then through the back of its shield, to ensure there were no more surprises waiting. The Windam fell back, still grasping the dismembered handle to his shield.

Sarik flew away from the site of his rival's defeat. There was no need to finish him. He was as good as helpless, unless one actually considered the four 12.5mm machine guns in a Windam's head a threat to a mobile suit.

But his comrades were not. Three Windams equipped with Jet Strikers dove in at Sarik, the two Murasames, both heavily damaged, in pursuit in their jet forms. One of the Windams turned on the Murasames and took at shot them. While one pilot tried to avoid the beam, it still cut through the fighter's side, destroying one of the wings and causing him to spiral to the ground. The Murasame's pilot managed to transform his mobile suit to its humanoid form before impacting, using its thrusters to dampen the blow, though it didn't look like he would be getting up on his own.

But his rival's comrades were a mere nuisance to Sarik. Still in mid-air, he launched the Astray through the barrage of particle beams and missiles that the Alliance mobile suits had launched, blocking and cutting several with his sabers, and grabbed the nearest Windam.

Sarik knew that the battle couldn't last any longer, especially with him carrying a passenger. He had to strike fear into their hearts and force them to flee.

Forcing away the Windam's shield with his beam staff and holding it's weapon arm at bay with his left hand, Sarik aimed the Astray's head at the Windam's cockpit and fired the two autocannons.

Now, normally, these weapons were used for destroying missiles or small vehicles such as tanks. Against the armor of general-purpose mobile suits such as Windams or Zakus, they did little damage at the ranges most combat took place. But at point blank range, the 75mm shells were devastating.

Hundreds of gargantuan slugs cut into the cockpit in seconds, and by the time one could count to three, everything and everyone inside the mobile suit's command center was so much oblivion.

Sarik released the Windam, allowing the empty shell to drop to the ground.

By now, the few remaining Windams had definitely took notice. All of their pilots watched as Sarik landed on the ground several meters in front of his rival's damaged machine, who had readied another beam saber in his left hand, a last attempt at futile resistance against Sarik. He raised it into a defensive position, waiting for Sarik's final blow.

But Sarik simply stood there. He did not raise his weapon in aggression, he did not advance on his enemy, or even move his Astray's head to target his autocannons. He just stood there. It was obvious who the victors were. They all knew it was pointless to fight any longer.

A few seconds later, the silence was broken by alarms in Sarik's cockpit. The _Ares_ had slaved its sensors to all of the SSI mobile weapons before the battle had started, and they now showed that the five BABIs had just taken off from the military base in Berlin.

Sarik tapped a few buttons and quickly hacked into the Earth Forces' communications channel.

"This is civilian Sarik Ostheim representing the forces of Silver Shield Incorporated," he transmitted. "I feel that this battle has come to a period where further hostilities would be pointless. I request that all forces cease fire and evacuate the battlefield."

Sarik watched for a moment, waiting to see how the Windam pilots would react. Then, one pilot dropped his mech's rifle in mid-air and sped away from the battlefield. Soon after, two more Windams released their weapons and followed.

But Sarik remained still, watching his battered rival. He still had his saber raised, as if he expected Sarik to end it. It was obvious this was the ace, the leader, and he had just been defeated in front of all of his men. The ultimate humiliation.

Sarik readied his sword staff, then went about tapping into the remaining Windam's communications equipment. A moment later, Sarik was satisfied when an indicator showed that he had an encrypted channel with the other pilot.

"It would be pointless for me to end your life here and now," Sarik told the other pilot. "You have fought a good fight, and now it's time for you to return home. If you TRULY think your life should end now, then you will be the first one to strike."

Sarik closed the channel, then waited. The headless Windam rose to its feet like a drunk man, then deactivated its beam saber. Sarik smirked when another, undamaged Windam, which had been standing loyally behind its pilot's commander, walked in and guided the crippled machine into the air.

Sarik shut down his own sabers and returned them to their racks, his fight over. Unless the ZAFT commander decided to combat him for some irrational reason, he was now free to rest.

"This is Commander Raider," Sarik heard Dominic report over the comm audio. "We are here to assist you."

Sarik opened a channel to the young commander, sending a video image.

"That will be unnecessary," Sarik informed him. "The remaining Earth Forces are in retreat. There may be a few damaged units from which you can procure prisoners, but that's all."

Sarik watched his radar as the BABIs closed in on the valley in which Sarik stood at high speed. He hoped they didn't plan to attack.

Obviously, they didn't, because the comm channel he had opened with Dominic remained open, and the ZAFT mobile suits shot over the remains of the battlefield.

"You did...well, Ostheim," Dominic told him reluctantly. "But I'll still be coming for you when you're in my territory."

"And I'll be ready for when that time comes," Sarik responded confidently.

Sarik heard a truly amused "hmph" over the audio shortly before Dominic cut the channel. A few moments later, all five BABIs were outside of radar range.

"Amelia, patch me through to Aaron," Sarik ordered as he flew the Astray just above the ground.

She bent over him and had the communications properly configured within a few seconds. Sarik realized as she did that there was a small stream of blood trickling down her cheek

"That was a kind thing you did," Amelia told Sarik soothingly.

"It would have gained me nothing to add him to my kill sheet," Sarik replied. "I won't pointlessly end a life simply because that individual is wallowing in self-pity."

"It wasn't two years ago that you would have," Amelia replied.

"And two years ago, I was dating you," Sarik replied jokingly, breaking the mood. "One of the two people that I ever have."

"And the only one alive," Amelia reminded him.

"Don't remind me," Sarik responded.

During the prior war, Blue Cosmos had decided to tie up all of their loose ends involving the Extendeds. If it weren't for Sarah's connections and Amelia's uncanny ability to motivate others through the most unorthodox of means, Sarik would have been long dead.

"Well, let's give this a try," Sarik mumbled.

Sarik was now back on the hill where he had started, and he turned his Astray to look in the direction of the forested areas in the valley. Sarik had spotted Aaron's GINN during the battle from this perch, and relocated it just as quickly. Aaron had done a truly good job at hiding himself, but Sarik knew his style. He never liked to be under too much cover, so he could maneuver and defend himself, but he absolutely hated hiding in plain sight.

Along one of the valley slopes was a moderate forest with several small clearings. Most of the trees were snow covered, but if one looked close enough about halfway up the hill, he would notice a white-crusted version of a GINN's crest poking out among them, if one actually knew what he was looking for.

"Come on out, Aaron," Sarik transmitted. "No one's around to see you."

Sarik watched as a GINN slowly and expertly rose from among the trees. Eventually, Sarik could see all but the legs of the eighteen meter tall machine.

After taking note of the design, Sarik had no doubts why Aaron had remained hidden so long. The pattern of the white and gray camouflage on the GINN's armor would have been able to hide him if he had been standing still on a bare mountainside, much less sitting in a snowy forest. Sarik had initially thought that the OCHER Arctic having been designed specifically with an invasion of Eurasia in mind was an exaggeration, but after having seen the damage Aaron had done with this single mobile weapon, he shuddered to think what an entire army of these could have done in the last war, if they had ever been used. Sarik also took note of Aaron's weapon of choice for this mission. It initially appeared to be one of the 37.5mm hyper-velocity rifles that the original OCHERs were sometimes armed with, but he soon dismissed the notion. The weapon was far bulkier, with some elements of the GINN's standard assault gun implemented into it. He assumed it was one of the new magnum-sabot sniper rifles that the techs had tried to get Sarik to test on his Astray.

"So, how'd I do?" Aaron asked. "I managed to get a few shots in after the fight started."

So that's why they had been so successful.

"I'll take your word for it," Sarik assured him. "And you did great. But next time you and Amelia pull a stunt like this, you're on your own in the world."

"What do you mean?" Aaron questioned. "This was all your idea."

Sarik sighed, then glared at Amelia, who simply shrugged her shoulders.

"Kids," Sarik remarked under his breath. "All right, sure. Wait here for a few hours, and I'll have a transport pick you up on our way out."

"Roger that," Aaron complied. A moment later, his GINN was back on the ground, completely hidden from sight, even Sarik's.

_Constant competition, even among friends, _Sarik thought grimly.

* * *

"This is Bravo Leader," said the fifteen year old boy over his headset. "We have just finished extracting the Destroy computer systems. Over."

"Bravo Sentry Two reporting," a young girl communicated. "A jeep just left the base, headed in your direction. Please get out."

"Don't worry, sis," replied the Extended. "We have everything we need. And don't forget transmission protocol. Over."

He shoved the large piece of machinery into a metal-framed backpack, then went about setting up the acid charges. If they made it look like one of the machine's various fluids had destroyed the components rather than them being stolen, it would help to keep SSI's public relations with ZAFT decent.

"This is Demo Leader," the young man heard an older boy say over the radio. "We've rigged the primary targets. We are leaving the operational area. Going radio silent. Out."

"Roger that," Bravo Leader got in before he heard a faint beep, indicating that someone had just signed off.

He set the timer on the explosive, then slapped the "Engage" button. He quickly slid down the Destroy's frame to the ground, soon joined by Bravo Operatives Two and Three.

"Where's Operative One?" Bravo Leader asked.

"He's helping Alpha Leader set up his charges," Operative Three, a brunette girl a year younger than he, replied. "He forgot how to disable the safeties."

Bravo Leader shook his head. What was Sarik thinking, putting a thirteen year old boy in charge of the head team?

"He'll have to get out with them," Bravo Leader informed his team. "Let's go now."

"This is Bravo Sentry One," he heard over his headset. "The ZAFT vehicle is approximately two minutes out. I count two marines and four technicians. Over."

"Roger that," Bravo Leader replied. Apparently, Sarik had been a little too obvious about getting his hands on the Destroy's systems.

"This is Bravo Leader to Bravo Operative One," he transmitted on another channel. "Be advised that there is a potential hostile on route. Over."

"We're almost done here," Operative One replied in a strained voice. "We only have three more charges to set. Over."

"There's no time!" Bravo leader yelled. "What you have up is enough."

Suddenly, he heard a crashing, and Operative One yelled in pain.

"What just happened?" Bravo Leader inquired.

"Get the hell out, now!" is all he heard. "I'll make sure the rest of the charges are set. Out!"

Bravo leader heard a beep, and knew what was going on. He dropped his pack and ran back up towards the Destroy, only to be tackled back down by a short, dark gray-haired boy. Alpha Leader.

"Get away from me!" Bravo leader yelled, tossing the younger child off of him.

"He has a beam impaled through him," Alpha Leader informed him coldly as he rolled onto his stomach. "He's not getting out of there."

Bravo Leader ran up the Destroy's frame anyway, not caring. However, he tripped as Alpha leader caught up with him and grabbed him by the legs.

"We have to go," the child told Bravo Leader calmly.

* * *

Sarik had just landed inside of the _Ares_'s hangar when a face appeared on his left comm screen.

"Sir," said the bridge commander. "The operatives are in trouble."

"Compromised?" Sarik asked.

"No," replied the commander. "A break-down in the chain of command, essentially."

"Patch everything through to my Astray," Sarik ordered.

A moment later, camera feed from all of the operatives' headsets dominated the mobile suit's screens. Sarik looked them over, and quickly found that Alpha and Bravo leaders were fighting.

"He's gone," Alpha Leader stated coldly. "We have to leave."

"We can save him!" Bravo Leader replied. "We have everything needed aboard the _Ares_."

"There's no time," Alpha leader told him.

There was a click in the chatter, indicating that someone had just signed on.

"This is Demo leader," said the operative. "We just spotted the jeep. It's about thirty seconds out."

As this was all going on, Sarik found the source of the fight. One of the operatives was still in the Destroy, placing acidic charges. The operative looked down, and Sarik could see several sharp pieces of debris impaling his body.

Sarik signed in.

"This is Chief Commander," Sarik said, his voice masked electronically. "All operatives excluding Bravo Operative One are to find cover immediately or be disposed of."

"Sarik!" Amelia exclaimed.

Sarik ignored her, his attention on three screens: Demo Leader's, which was watching the jeep that drove ever closer to the wreckage; Bravo Operative One's, which was showing his progress and deteriorating condition; and Bravo Leader's, which was currently dominated by the muzzle of a silenced pistol.

"You have exactly five seconds to decide," Alpha Leader informed him coldly.

"Done!" the wounded operative informed as he fell out of the wreckage towards the fight.

"Everyone, get out of there!" Sarik ordered in a relieved and enthusiastic tone. "Including Bravo Operative One."

Alpha Leader reholstered his pistol and helped Bravo Leader pick the teenage boy up, rushing him away from the wreckage.

Sarik shut everything off once he was sure they were clear. Though it turned out to be a close call, he knew they would all make it back without detection. He had that much confidence in them.

Sarik glanced back at Amelia, who had an utter expression of hatred on her face. Sarik's own expression turned solemn as he moved the Astray forward to the docking clamps and locked it into the _Ares_ after dropping the rifle and shield into their appropriate racks.

"That boy will never forgive you," Amelia told him coldly as he opened the cockpit.

"Neither will I," Sarik replied emotionlessly.

* * *

Stella stared at the racks of clothes in front of her. It was just so hard to choose. She had some experience with shopping, but now that she thought of it, there were only a few outfits she ever wore when she was working with Neo.

"Why not this?" Sarah suggested. "You seem to like the ocean. This is the same shade."

Stella looked at the sundress Sarah held out. It was dark blue, light, and looked pretty flexible. Figuring it was something to start with, Stella reached out to take it from Sarah, making it probably the thirtieth outfit she'd tried on today.

She was on her way to the dressing rooms when she noticed a door open in the back of the store. It was labeled "Employees Only", but several customers, along with two employees, stood around a small television. There appeared to be nothing on it but the logo of ZAFT. A few seconds later, a man's face appeared on it.

"Everyone, I am the chairman of the PLANTs Supreme Council," the man started. "I am Gilbert Durandel."

_Durandel. _Why was that name familiar?

"Stella!" Sarah exclaimed. "You're not supposed to be back..."

Stella interrupted her by putting a hand up. Something big was going on.

"I know it's unseemly for me to be broadcasting such a message at this time, given that a state of war still exists between the PLANTs and the people of Earth," the man continued. "Please forgive me. I beg your indulgence. Please listen to what I have to say."

Sarah, a concerned look on her face, pulled out her cell phone to call one of the teams. But when she hit the talk button, there was silence for a moment, then audio from a source she did not expect.

"I would like to explain something to all of you," Durandel's voice echoed through it. "Allow me to explain the reason why this war has not yet come to an end. The true reason why we found ourselves at war in the first place. I'm certain many of you do not know the real reasons, because it is not the policy of most nations to reveal this information."

Sarah's eyes widened as a video began to play while the Chairman continued his speech. It was the Destroy in action.

* * *

"Sir, we had enough charges set!" the fifteen year old boy yelled at Sarik from his chair. "If that BOY had been a little more patient, we would have gotten out of this without any incidents!"

"And then what?" Sarik asked, raising his voice slightly. "Then what? Be taken prisoner? Expose SSI? Expose us?!"

"We got him out of there just fine!" the boy retorted.

"Barely!" Sarik responded, his temper getting the better of him. "You could have exposed us. Nearly did! There is a chain of command for a reason. Those in charge are supposed to be aware of the bigger picture, and must be willing to make the hard decisions based on that information! You know this, and knew the risks before the mission started."

"This wouldn't have happened if you didn't put that inexperienced child in charge," the young man accused.

"That 'inexperienced child' is far more decisive than you," Sarik replied darkly. "I put everyone where their abilities served the group best. You have the greatest technical expertise of anyone your age, but you make attachments far too easily. Even Operative One knew he was unlikely to make it out of there, and he's currently lying in a trauma-induced coma in the infirmary. If you are truly that incapable of protecting the majority of your team, then I can assign you elsewhere."

"We didn't get caught," the boy said calmly. "And because of my 'indecisiveness', he is still alive."

"All of you might be dead right now," Sarik responded coldly, then took a deep breath. "But, it is in the past, and we must move on, hoping we do not repeat our mistakes. We have what we need, and ZAFT is unaware of our actions, as far as I know."

"What YOU need, you mean," the boy retorted.

Sarik sighed, trying to calm himself. He never did well socially, and part of him was deciding whether or not it would be easier to kill the child, as he could prove to be a problem down the road. But he was better than that. He hadn't killed in cold blood for over a decade.

"Do you remember the private conversation I had with you a year ago, when you accepted my invitation to join the operatives?" Sarik asked.

"Yes," the boy replied defiantly.

"Do you remember what I told you about being a good leader?" Sarik inquired.

"That he must put his followers needs before his own, and serve them with his life," the boy answered.

"Do you remember the OTHER thing I told you?" Sarik asked.

The boy's face turned red in anger.

"That a good leader must sometimes be willing to send his followers, sometimes even his friends, to their deaths," the boy quoted, malice saturating his words.

Sarik nodded his head slowly.

"And one day, you will be able to do that," Sarik told him. "When you lose comrades, when you lose friends, because of your poor decisions, you will understand."

The boy hardened his face and turned his back to Sarik.

"Is that all?" the boy questioned in contempt.

"That is all, Gideon," Sarik told him, emphasizing his name.

The boy marched out of the room arrogantly, and the automatic doors to Sarik's quarters shut behind him.

As soon as he was sure that the young Extended was outside of earshot, Sarik smashed his fist against the wall as hard as he could. He felt something crack in his hand, and huge pains shot up his arm.

He smashed his hand again and again against the hard metal, trying to cause himself as much pain as possible. Something to cancel out the rejection and guilt that he felt inside. This compounded with the loss of one of the Skygrasper pilots and the near-loss of that Murasame pilot, Sarik was starting to snap.

It was half an hour later when Amelia walked into the captain's quarters, finding Sarik curled up on his bed in a fetal position while laying on his side.

"You are so childish," she remarked from the doorway.

"I told you not to come into my room," Sarik replied, unmoving.

"Good thing there's such thing as free will," Amelia said as she walked up to the bed and knelt beside it, resting her chin on the mattress.

Amelia glanced at Sarik's hands, which were bleeding.

"So you really do care," she remarked, cupping one in her own hands.

"No less than I did back then," Sarik told Amelia, uncurling and pulling away from her.

"You didn't show it then, either," she replied.

Sarik rolled his feet off the edge of the bed and sat up.

"What is it you want?" Sarik asked her as he stood.

"The chairman of the PLANTs is broadcasting," Amelia told him, stretching her arms out on his bed. "You will probably want to listen to this one."

Sarik sighed and walked towards the door. When it opened, he noticed Amelia wasn't behind him.

"You coming?" he asked her.

"I have a feeling I already know what he's going to say," Amelia told Sarik.

He sighed at the prospect. If that was the case, then he already knew, too.

Sarik walked briskly towards the galley. As he got closer, he could hear the transmission from the galley's large television.

"...These images were taken a few days ago, when the Alliance's new superweapon emerged from Central Eurasia and advanced westward, destroying whole cities in its path."

Sarik cringed. He had a chance to see Berlin for himself. He doubted the other cities had received better fates.

"This weapon of annihilation attacked without warning," Durandel continued. "It wiped out three cities, killing many of the citizens who had no..."

Sarik stared at the screen as the Chairman's figure disappeared into a fog of static.

"What's wrong?" Sarik asked the crew members who were huddled underneath the monitor.

"There shouldn't be anything wrong," one told Sarik. "We're directly linked with the company's comsats."

"Dammit!" Sarik yelled as he ran towards the elevator.

* * *

"As soon as we became aware of it, ZAFT forces engaged the weapon in battle," continued Durandel.

Another video clip appeared on the screen. It was the fight at Berlin, the same one that Sarah and Sarik had both seen.

But Stella had not. In fact, she had no idea what was showing until a single mobile suit flew in at the Destroy. That image caused several memories to come flooding back to Stella all at once. She braced herself against the wall and fell to her knees.

"Shinn!" Stella cried quietly.

"Though we did stop it, regretfully, many lives were lost before it was destroyed," Chairman Durandel continued.

Sarah, immediately realized something was wrong, knelt down next to Stella and tried to pull the child to her feet.

"Time to go," Sarah huffed as she pulled on Stella.

"The cities of Earth were attacked by the Earth Forces. Why did this happen?"

Sarah forced Stella through the empty store, who was being anything but helpful, constantly trying to collapse to the ground. Sarah could only imagine at what the girl was going through, but she knew that video had triggered something significant in Stella. All the more reason to not make a scene in public.

She nearly had Stella to parking lot when one of the black escort cars pulled up next to the curb, the door already opened.

"Get in, now!" a man yelled to Sarah. She recognized him to be one of Sarik's personal bodyguards.

She forced Stella to the car, where that man and another pulled her and Sarah into the vehicle. The driver wasted no time getting a move on, the car already moving before Sarah was fully in. As she settled into a seat, Sarah realized that the interior was configured like that of a miniature limousine.

The bodyguard let out a sigh of relief as he pulled the door the remaining centimeters shut.

"What's wrong?" Sarah questioned.

"The _Ares_ just sent out a total recall signal," he briefed her. "All facilities and faculties are being evacuated to the Orb headquarters. Along with this, the Orb Union is going to DEFCON 3, though they're waiting for a chance to take it public."

"What instigated this?" Sarah asked.

"You'll get to see when we get back," the man replied.

* * *

"Send out the the recall order," Sarik ordered from the bridge. "All facilities need to be evacuated and swept within seventy two hours."

"Yes sir," the comm officer complied. He had just finished setting up a system that constantly rotated between the world's various communications satellites above them, which had so far countered any jamming attempts on the ship.

Sarik watched the images that were being shown during Durandel's speech. The last set, showing Earth Alliance foot-soldiers cleaning up dead rebels bodies, was obviously displayed for the intent of turning those who were watching against the Earth Alliance, and for that reason alone.

"The Alliance declared its goal to be the liberation of the region from the 'tyranny' of ZAFT," Durandel continued. "But does this look like liberation? The burning of entire cities, along with their citizens?"

Sarik watched the images unfold on the bridge's main screen. Images of rebels cheering ZAFT, who had two mobile suits landed amidst the crowd. One was the one Sarik had encountered in Eurasia, the other he could not identify. It looked similar to the Justice Gundam from the last war, but Sarik knew that machine to be destroyed while taking down the ZAFT doomsday weapon, GENESIS. Athrun Zala, the pilot, had self-destructed the mech inside of the GENESIS, destroying the superweapon in the resulting nuclear explosion, though he had somehow escaped and kept a low profile since, even after rejoining ZAFT at the beginning of this war.

"It is true that we disapproved of the Alliance's policies, and for humanitarian reasons, we have supported those seeking independence from Eurasia, one of Alliance's member nations."

Sarik nearly laughed at the remark. Hiding behind the guise of humanitarians. What a load of crap. There was little different about the ZAFT now and the ZAFT from the last war except for the weapons used. And to add to the wound, he played a clip of one of the Lacus Clyne concerts. Why the hell did she decide to side with him, anyway?

"We have supported those who want an end to this pointless and seemingly perpetual warfare, those individuals who wish to return to a life of normalcy," Durandal said. "All that they desire is to live in peace with their loved ones. These are the kinds of people to whom we have given our support."

Sarik felt a slight twinge of remorse upon seeing a clip of a child yelling for his mother, but those feelings were soon quelled when men and women cursing the Earth Alliance and venerating ZAFT were presented. An obvious propaganda streak. What should have been obvious to even the dumbest of men.

"But the Alliance scorned our desire for peace. It turned its attention to the citizens of Western Eurasia, who cooperated with us, who chose peace over a world torn asunder by a hateful war. The Alliance passed judgment, called them traitors, and burned them in their homes, even children."

Sarik watched as a clip of the final battle with the Destroy was presented. He observed it intently, looking for any sign of the TRUE heroes of that fight. But they were gone. The Freedom, the Murasames and the Strike Rouge, and even the _Archangel_. Somehow, the editors had completely wiped any trace of them from the video.

"Why?" asked the chairman, raising his voice as he lifted himself from his seat. "Why does it have to be this way? Who says peace is not permitted, that you have to fight no matter what? Who says it, and why would they say it? Why can't they let us live together, hand in hand in peace?"

Suddenly, that girl, Clyne, walked into the camera's view and put a hand on the chairman's shoulder. Sarik's eyes narrowed at the sight. It was despicable that she abuse all of her political influence like this. The daughter of one of the greatest men to live in this era, accomplished career singer, and eventually the driving force behind the organization that had ended the last war. How had she fallen so far in only two years time?

And what happened to her sense of style? She had always worn EXTRAVAGANT clothing, not attire with the mere intention of attracting horny teenage boys.

"It's a fact that this war was started with a single terrible act, a catastrophe of horrific proportions, one that was caused by a few Coordinators," the young woman started after taking her place by the Chairman's side. "We will never forget that we were unable to prevent it, or the many tragedies that resulted from that terrible event. For those who were affected, there will never be an end for the suffering or sorrow they experienced. And perhaps, it was also very inevitable. Events so traumatic could not help but trigger a war."

Sarik watched another of the increasingly annoying clips flash onto the monitor. This time, the Earth Alliance's failed assault on the PLANTs was presented. It seemed that the clips were particularly concentrated on the nuclear-equipped mobile suits that had attempted a surprise flanking attack on the space colonies. It was wrapped up with the final moment of the battle, when a ZAFT Nazca-class destroyer fired a new weapon known as a Neutron Stampeder, setting off the nukes prematurely and causing most of the Earth Alliance Fleet to be destroyed by its own weapons.

"However, we cannot let things continue as they are now," Lacus continued. "Peace and decency have been lost in this world amidst a constant battle. This permanent state of hatred and conflict only brings suffering. Haven't we seen enough enough of it? Raise your eyes and wipe away your tears; look ahead with hope. Cry out your sadness, but when you're done, listen to what the other side has to say. We will find that a world of light and kindness awaits us, and we will return to it. In my heart of hearts, I believe in this. This is the desire of people everywhere."

It appeared that she was done, as there was a long pause. And Sarik had much time to think during that pause.

Heart of hearts. He doubted anyone but those who opposed Durandel's motives caught on to that one. Was that Durandel's way of telling leaders of the world that he had the people's unquestioning support?

And beyond that, one had to think, _Does he?_

"But there have always been those who would prevent such harmony at all costs," Durandel started again.

_Here it comes,_ Sarik predicted.

"They've been with us since antiquity," he informed. "They have demanded that people fight because of the profits that can be generated. 'You're a coward if you don't fight, and you're a traitor if you don't follow orders.' They use those words when they hand you your weapon and tell you to attack. That is what they say when they invent enemies out of nothing. The last thing they want is a world of peace. It is clear that these are the people who are behind this latest tragedy in Western Eurasia. The organization, Blue Cosmos, is well-known. They detest Coordinators and refer to them as dangerous mistakes who shouldn't exist. What you don't know is that it was invented by those same people. These individuals hide in the shadows. They're constantly inventing new enemies, ensuring war is always raging somewhere. The Merchants of Death. The Military Industrial Complex. They are known as Logos. They are the true enemies of anyone who loves peace."

Sarik finally found what he was waiting for. A list of all of the lead members of Logos flashed on screen, along with recently acquired photographs. Sarik waited. He knew that the Chairman would reveal his true colors soon.

And there it was. The image flashed, another list identifying dozens of the world's most influential CEOs, politicians, and citizens, most of whom had no affiliation with the vile organization. And Sarik Ostheim sat among them, right next to William Ostheim.

So a lie among the truth, Sarik thought. He knew for a fact that there were no members of Logos in Orb or any of the countries nearby, though he had always had unfounded suspicions of the Seirans. Durandel was up to something big, and these were the people who could and WOULD get in his way.

"From the bottom of my heart, I wish for a world that never again knows the scourge of war," Durandel told the world. "Since Logos continues to block our efforts, I am taking this opportunity to announce a military campaign with the specific goal of eliminating it and its members."

Sarik slowly sat into his chair on the observation deck, slightly stunned, but mostly angry. He knew that Durandel was up to something, and he had assumed he would try something similar, but something THIS big and obvious? What did it mean? Who would he hit first? Was he going to come after Orb and its allies? And how did he expect to get away with it?

Sarik, at this very moment, was truly scared, though his face and body did not show it. And not just for his life. There were tens of thousands of employees he was responsible for, thousands of Extendeds now living all over the world under his protection, and...

Sarik jerked his hand up out of reflex when he felt something touch his shoulder. He grabbed something warm, something smooth. A woman's hand. He looked up. It was Amelia, a sorrowful expression on her face. She, too, knew that the end might be near.

And that was the last thing he had to protect. The most important.

_My friends._

"All aircraft, condition red!" Sarik yelled as he jumped up, once more taking command. "All pilots, to their craft! All crew, to your stations!"

Sarik walked along the bridge, checking over everything. Just as he had predicted, a contact alarm soon went off, and he rushed to one of the CIC positions. Five aircraft were flying in the direction of the convoy from Australia. But there was no way they could have gotten there that fast.

Unless they were waiting.

_Raider and his pilots must have equipped external battery packs before they left,_ Sarik deduced.

"Commander, we have to get this convoy outside of ZAFT airspace, now!" Sarik yelled. "I'll head them off and give everyone some time."

Sarik ran off the bridge and towards the elevator. He was followed by soft footsteps.

"This isn't your fight," Sarik told Amelia.

"But you're my friend," she replied, grabbing his arm from outside of the elevator. "And I don't abandon my friends."

Sarik smiled weakly, then used her grip on his arm to pull her into the elevator with him.

"Then let us fight together," he told her, shrugging her off before he pulled her too close.

He looked over at her. He loved her, and he always had. Just like he loved Sarah, and Aaron, and...

_Stella._

They would be his motivation. His will to live. His strength to fight in the dark days to come. They were all going to make it through this. He would ensure that with his life.

Sarik glanced at Amelia as the elevator neared the bottom level. Ironically, she had done the same. They both held the gaze, both understanding the future that they chose.

Things were going to be hell from now on. They all knew it.


	19. Chapter 18

**CE 64**

Sarik rolled around on the floor, gawking at his new toy. This one was round, and it came with several differently shaped blocks that he had to put through the holes that riddled the contraption. However, he couldn't put them in just any hole. Each hole was designed for a specific block, and he had to figure out which ones fit where. And when he was done, he could open up the cage and do it all over again. It was far more entertaining than any of his previous toys.

As he had filled and emptied the device for the fifth time, Sarik realized that there were three people watching him from the edge of the room. He didn't know who these people were, just that they had been taking care of him for a while.

After staring at them for a moment, Sarik went back to playing, happy and completely oblivious to the world around him.

* * *

"Why isn't he recovering?" Derick questioned Sarah impatiently. "You told me that he was killing trained mercenaries in that facility. How could he have done that in THIS state? He's been like this ever since he woke up nearly a year ago!"

"Do you have any idea what he went through?" Sarah questioned calmly. "Do you have any idea what kind of conditioning they forced on the child? The programming? The physical modifications?"

"My doctors attempted to explain it to me at one point or the other," Derick replied. "And from my understanding, there is no reason he should be acting like this. His brain is relatively undamaged in regard to his memory centers."

"The brain and the mind are two different things, sir," Sarah retorted rudely. "His brain may be in perfectly condition, but his MIND is not. What he went through aged his mind in ways that none of us will ever be able to understand. This is its way of resetting, starting over."

"Your job was to ensure that his recovery was swift," Derick reminded Sarah. "It's been nearly a year, and you have failed at that up to this point. He needs to get back to his education so that he'll be able to take my place at the head of the company."

"Is that all you think about?" Laura asked Derick. "About what the future holds? About how you can manipulate it?"

"Well, we certainly can't have William run everything!" Derick yelled. "Or perhaps, even after everything that he's done, you still think he should? You do, don't you?"

Derick stared intimidatingly at his wife, waiting for her answer.

"He's our son," she replied weakly.

"And so is Sarik," Derick reminded her. "But Sarik can be changed. He can be readied to take our place in the world without tarnishing a legacy that goes back several decades. William cannot."

"You truly think that, after everything you've seen?" Sarah remarked smugly.

Derick turned on her, a slightly crazed expression on his face.

"You will not question my judgment if you wish to continue working with Sarik," Derick told her agitatedly.

"I'm simply stating a fact," Sarah told him bluntly. "Do you REALLY want to bring back the Sarik we saw in those security videos? A cold-blooded killer who eliminates anything physically in his way? What makes you think that he won't consider you or I a threat?"

"That's for you to deal with," Derick replied. "If, in the end, he becomes the heir that he is meant to be, then yes, I want to risk bringing that child back."

"My JOB is to make sure Sarik doesn't become a monster," Sarah declared. "One like the one we've seen or otherwise."

"And what is otherwise?" Derick inquired, sensing Sarah's contempt.

"A selfish, backstabbing, heartless..." Sarah started.

But before she could get far, Derick swung his right arm outward at her out of impulse. However, Sarah had already prepared for the blow, something she knew was long in the coming. She grabbed Derick's arm and was about to snap it into an unnatural and painful position when she spotted Sarik, who was standing about a meter away, watching the entire drama unfold.

Sarah took a couple steps backwards, then released Derick and moved off even further.

Derick continued to glare at Sarah, but regained his composure and softened his face. He turned about towards his wife, but she was gone. He glanced around the playroom and found her leading Sarik away deeper into the playroom.

"I apologize for my rash actions," Derick told Sarah, though his tone had no sincerity about it. "Please forgive me."

However, Sarah was still surprised. She had expected him to throw her out for her part in the brief conflict.

"I am growing old," Derick confessed to her. "I will soon be replaced, and I do not wish for my life's works to be wasted. This world is one of constant conflict. It seems no matter what messes are cleaned up, there is always some insurrection, or some scandal, or some investigation, all meant to discredit organizations and individuals. I attempted to bring William up amidst that competitive world with the hope that it would prepare him for his intended role. Apparently, I did too well."

Sarah remained silent as she watched Laura play with Sarik. It seemed so great, parenthood. To be able to have someone to truly call your own, someone to be able to love, no matter what the circumstances.

Apparently, Derick realized that she watching the two.

"You envy her," he stated. "Or do you envy him?"

"Both," Sarah replied. "When I was a young girl, the one thing I KNEW I wanted to do with my life was become a mother. But when I was older, I was pressured to do other things by my family, and eventually, I ended up where I was a year ago."

"So what ever stopped you?" Derick prodded.

"Probably me," Sarah admitted. "I spent most of my time working for Blue Cosmos after I finished college. None of the men around were exactly what I would call model citizens. Mostly criminals and discharged military."

"There are other methods of obtaining a child these days," Derick informed her. "Adoption, artificial insemination, cloning..."

"Which is illegal," Sarah interrupted.

"Regardless, it's an option," Derick said.

"For the wealthy," Sarah stated.

Derick sighed.

"Look, I'm going to be forward with you," Derick told her, resorting to his no-nonsense tone. "I don't know what you feel you owe Sarik, but he already has two capable and experienced parents. What we can't do for him, our teams of physicians and surgeons can. With the information provided by Doctor Spence, we may even be able to cure him someday. What I need is someone who can provide for his psychological needs. Something you have failed to do to the current date."

"Sir, what I am doing is best for Sarik," Sarah replied.

"In your experienced opinion, I assume?" Derick inquired mockingly.

Sarah felt rage boil inside of her, but she kept her cool. It would not do well to show weakness right now.

"The exercises I am putting him through are the slower of two options, yes," Sarah informed Derick. "However, they are the least intrusive. If we allow his mind to recover at its own pace, we can bring back someone who at least partially resembles the boy you knew, though it is unlikely he'll ever recover the entirety of his passed memories in this lifetime. But, if we force him, what we will probably end up with is the child that escaped from William."

"It's been nearly a year," Derick replied. "Can't we find some sort of middle ground?"

"Not likely," Sarah told him. "Not after what he's been through."

The middle-aged man sighed.

"Very well," Derick said solemnly.

Her turned to her and extended a hand.

"I thank you for your services rendered up to this period, Miss Raahl," Derick courtesied in a seemingly cheery tone. "However, they are no longer required. Please have your belongings cleared out by this evening."

And with that, Derick left the playroom, his posture emitting complete confidence and total arrogance.

* * *

Laura watched as the entire affair unfolded. Sarah just stood there, stunned. After Derick left the room, she leaned her back against the wall and let herself fall to the floor.

"Is your husband always like this?" Sarah asked about five minutes later, still sitting.

"No," Laura replied. "Normally he would have had you imprisoned the day we rescued Sarik. For some reason, he has some sort of respect for you."

Sarah stared at the wall in front of her, thinking.

"What did you feel when you found out?" Sarah questioned.

"About William?" Laura inquired.

"Yes," Sarah said.

"Disappointment, sadness, a little anger," Laura answered.

"Did you feel any..._hatred_?" Sarah asked solemnly.

Laura sighed, then stood up and walked over to Sarah. Sarik followed his mother without a sound.

"If a mother can hate her own child, then she should be asking herself why she decided to raise the child in the first place," Laura told Sarah. "If a person truly hates another, then they are in danger of becoming something far less than human, because they will plot against the one who wronged them, and perhaps act upon those thoughts if the appropriate situation presented itself."

"Did you feel anything REMOTELY in that direction?" Sarah prodded deeper. "Anything at all?"

Laura slid down the wall in front of Sarah and situated herself into a comfortable position.

"Anything that I felt at the time was directed at myself," Laura told her. "I will be honest with you, I was not the best parent to William. There has always been...tension in this marriage, and I often neglected my responsibilities to William, spending more time on myself to make up for what Derick would do to me. By the time I was mature enough to take notice of him, he had grown into a man like his father. I was proud of him at the time. William had always been successful. I guess I was so proud, so...relieved, that I was unwilling to see the dark side of things."

"So, what is the story with Sarik?" Sarah asked after a moment of thought.

Laura remained silent for a moment.

"He was, I guess you can say, an accident," Laura admitted. "I found out about the pregnancy early on, and at the time, it was a decision of whether to abort, or attempt carrying a child at my relatively old age. Derick had left the decision to me, as we already had William. He didn't care either way. When I decided to go through with it, Derick had suggested that we make Sarik into a Coordinator."

Sarah's eyes widened.

"You mean that he really is one?" Sarah asked.

"Well, no," Laura answered. "Something went wrong during the operation, and most of the enhancements didn't take hold. We had Sarik classified as a Natural, and that was the end of it. From then on, we raised him like we would have any other child. I had just hoped that this time, I would have been a larger influence in his life than William's, and be able to better enjoy the experience."

Sarah remained for a moment. She glanced over at Sarik, who was playing with another of his toys nearby.

"Promise me you'll take care of him," Sarah whispered. "During my time with him last summer, I had an opportunity to see what kind of a person he is. Somewhere in there is an intelligent but kind child. No matter what Derick does to him, please help him stay that way."

Laura rose to her feet, then walked over to Sarik and kissed him on the forehead.

"Would you mind watching Sarik for a moment?" she asked. "I have some things I need to get done in the next few minutes."

"Of course," Sarah responded formally.

Laura smiled, then left the playroom, closing the door behind her.

* * *

Sarah quickly crawled over to Sarik, who was flipping through some sort of pop-up book. She was surprised that the Ostheims had found this particular one. From the production date printed on its cover, she had learned that it was an antique from the previous era.

And she took note of how carefully Sarik handled it. How graceful his movements were, how delicately he he flipped the pages.

Sarah sighed. No matter how anyone looked at it, Sarik was changed. And no matter what anyone did, the old Sarik would never exist again. He had great power of both mind and body, and buried deep down, he had programming that allowed him to use that power without a single thought to his actions or the consequences of those actions. If he was ever in a position where something challenged him, she knew he would overcome it, and at any cost.

Sarah remained by Sarik as he turned the page, and another scene popped out of the book. It portrayed a family bustling about a modest house in the afternoon, the father walking in the front door, presumably returning home from work. Sarah found the scene ironic, because the man had the same hair color as William and Derick.

Sarah thought Sarik was about to turn the page when he grabbed the paper man by the head and pulled sideways. The paper tore almost perfectly along the neck. Sarik stared at the piece of paper for a moment, then dropped it back into the book and proceeded to turn the page.

Sarah, who felt tears welling up in her eyes, forced the book closed and pulled Sarik into a tight embrace. She felt a tear streak down her cheek, and it rolled down onto Sarik's head.

Sarik, curious about what it was, struggled to get one of his arms free. When he had, he reached up and wiped the object off of his cheek. He stared at the tiny drop for a moment.

"C...c..cry," he stuttered.

Sarah stared down at him. He was looking back at her as if she were a person, not an object. Something familiar was back.

"Crying," he said, like a baby who had just discovered his first word.

"Yes, crying," Sarah sobbed to him.

Sarik reached up and wiped another of the tears off of Sarah's face. He stared at it for a moment, then suddenly grabbed her in an embrace.

"S..Stella," he muttered.

Sarah gazed back down at him, starting to regain her composure. She thought more of her tears had dripped onto him, but they were all below his eyes. Sarik was actually crying.

"It's all in there somewhere, isn't it?" Sarah asked, putting her forehead to Sarik's. "We just have to get it all out, somehow."

Sarik wiped away his tears, then looked back up at Sarah in the dumb, distant way as he had before.

Sarah sighed. Perhaps it was simply not to be.

Sarik had walked off and started playing with another toy when Laura strolled back into the room. Sarah bolted to her feet instantly.

"Thank you, Sarah," she courtesied. "I truly appreciate it."

"Anything for him," Sarah replied as she stood.

Laura nodded as Sarah passed her.

"Miss Ostheim?" Sarah said.

"Yes?" Laura replied.

"If he ever needs anything, I'll be nearby," Sarah told her.

"I am truly grateful," Laura thanked.

Sarah nodded her head once, then left the playroom. She had a lot of work to do before her room was cleared out.

* * *

Sarah soon arrived at the room the Ostheims had provided her in their Eurasian estate. She glanced around at her numerous belongings. After Sarik was rescued, she had cleared out from among her belongings anything having to do with her family and Blue Cosmos, which didn't leave much at all. It was what she had accumulated since then that made up the bulk of her things.

She decided to start with her desk. It would probably be the biggest mess to clean.

As she was throwing away the piles of junk that somehow managed to collect on her desk, Sarah noticed a large manila envelope on top of one of the piles that hadn't been there before. No markings of any sort decorated it, but it was sealed shut.

Sarah carefully tore it open, exposing several credit vouchers and a note. She pulled out the letter first, as she already had an idea of the amount of money provided.  
_  
Dear Miss Raahl,  
I apologize for my rash words earlier today. After discussing matters with my wife, I have decided that it is in Sarik's best interest for you to continue working with him. If you are willing, I would like for you to take over the duties as his full-time caretaker, in addition to your current responsibilities. Please think this over well, and do not allow my gift to influence your decision. It is merely a gesture of goodwill, and there will be no hard feelings if you still choose to leave._

_Sincerely,  
Derick Ostheim_

Sarah folded the letter and replaced it into the envelope. She didn't need the money, but she would definitely be staying.

She sighed in relief. At least she wouldn't have to clear out her room.

* * *

Walters glanced over the the displays to the device once again. He hated having to experiment around like this. One wrong setting, and the child could die.

It was as Sarik was escorted into the chamber when Walters literally started sweating. Both Derick and Laura were there, along with a younger woman that he didn't recognize. Probably some sort of psychological adviser.

"Are you finished with the adjustments, Doctor?" Derick asked him when he was about a meter away.

"Just about," Walters answered. "We're still interpreting data from the last attempt. The more precise we are with our measurements, the better the results we'll see in Sarik."

Derick nodded in understanding before walking off and looking over the shoulders of the other doctors.

Walters went back to making his adjustments, hoping that they would get it right this time. His personal opinion to why Sarik was not recovering was because the machines that sustained his body were mere prototypes, and were originally only meant to be a temporary measure. The constant changes in a growing child's body called for regular alterations to the device's calibration, the equations to those adjustments obviously something that Blue Cosmos had been careful to keep secret, either through intention or ignorance. Walters hoped he would get it right this time.

Ten minutes later, Walters had finished checking over the work of other members of his team, who had completed their tasks and were double-checking their work. When everything seemed ready, he had Sarik climb into the bed.

Sarik did so obediently, and a glass dome closed down over him, sealing the device airtight. Walters began the process of activating the machine, and moments later, Sarik had fallen into a deep and unnatural sleep.

Walters watched over all of the mechanical and vitals readings during the entire hour that Sarik slept. The device emitted energies and vibrations of various wavelengths and frequencies, inducing certain reactions within his body. Coupled with the various compounds that were released into the air inside of the device, this essentially caused Sarik's body to rebuild itself. Without this process every few weeks, he would die from his nervous system literally caving in on itself.

After Sarik's hour was up, Walters carefully shut down the device. The boy awoke soon after, and was escorted out by his mother. Walters let out a sigh as they left, as today, he had gambled with the boy's life more than he would ever have liked. He hoped he wouldn't have to do something like this again in the near future, because he would probably be looking for work elsewhere if he did. He could not in good conscience pointlessly gamble with a patient's life.

* * *

"And now it's your turn," Derick said into Sarah's ear.

She kept her calm, betraying no emotion on her face, though she very much wanted to cause the middle-aged man indescribable amounts of pain right now. She had agreed to stay, but did not realize until now the trap Derick had set for her.

He had tricked both her and Laura. Derick was going to bring Sarik back to his senses through any method possible, with or without Sarah. She was essentially backed into a corner. Either Sarah could leave and abandon Sarik to his father's ruthlessness, or she could stay, and help him as best as she knew how. She was the only one, other than his mother, that she knew cared about Sarik as a person.

But deep down, Sarah still knew what she was about to do to Sarik was wrong. Everything was about to change, and not necessarily for the better.

* * *

Sarik sat cross-legged in the center of the nearly empty room, looking for something to do. No one else was with him, and the only items of remote interest in the room that he could locate was a small table with a lamp on it and a giant window that made up the wall opposite of the door, providing him with a decent view of a beach. Of course, he didn't know what a beach was, nor could he come to appreciate its beauty.

Sarik turned his head as the room's only door opened and a woman walked in, carrying two large duffel bags. She walked in front of him and set them down.

"Hello Sarik," she greeted. "You remember me? Sarah?"

Sarik stared back dumbly, not truly understanding any of the words that left her mouth. The woman sighed.

She slowly reached into the bag and pulled out a small object of some sort. Sarik stared at it for a moment as she set it down on the floor in front of him. It was a metal object, shaped like two rectangles stuck together opposite of each other, with protrusions of various sorts all along it.

Sarik continued to watch patiently as she set a smaller piece of metal next to the object. For some reason, it looked like it belonged with the larger object, sort of like the blocks that went to one of his toys.

Next, she pulled out another object, this one appearing to be made of some sort of plastic. Or from what he could tell. The rest of it was covered by a leather-like sheath. She set this object to the right of the other items.

And she continued to pull out object after object, creating a progressively longer lineup. Sarik stared at the various items. Some of them seemed familiar, while others remained completely foreign to him.

The woman pulled one more thing out of her bag, a stack of several small sheets of paper. Imprinted on them were the frozen images of people. Sarik recognized one to be of himself, though he could not identify any of the others.

"Do you recognize any of these, Sarik?" the woman asked him.

Sarik glanced up and down the line again. He was suddenly prompted to grab up the first two objects she had pulled out. He attempted to shove the smaller piece into the grip on the larger piece, and it went in, partway. Enthusiastically, he pulled it out and and attempted to force it in another way, this time sliding the object all the way inside and causing the larger object to click. He tried removing the smaller piece once more, but it was stuck. Sarik thought about what to do next, and observed that the top of this object looked like it could slide independent of the rest of it, so he decided to pull on it. Amazingly, it did slide back.

The woman quickly snatched the object from him, setting it back into one of the bags.

"Anything else?" she inquired.

Sarik stared at each of the objects intently, but none of them struck a cord within his mind.

The woman sighed.

"All right, Sarik, I need you to lay down on your back and close your eyes," she told him.

Sarik looked at her, puzzled. The woman crawled over to him and delicately forced him onto his back.

"Now close your eyes," she cooed.

Sarik did so.

"Now I want you to listen to my voice. Do not think of anything else but my words."

* * *

Derick watched the screen intently. Sarah had been in there for nearly an hour, and the entire time, Sarik had remained unmoving. She, along with several of the world's best psychology authorities, had resorted to this simple and classic plan. Derick truly hoped it would work as it had for so many others who had suffered such trauma as his son. He couldn't afford for Sarik to remain a child forever.

After another two hours, Derick observed a change in Sarik's condition. The boy had suddenly started writhing, and soon began yelling.

* * *

He ran down the halls, killing all that were in his path. They were in his way, so he had no remorse in what he did. If there was an obstacle before one's self, he had to overcome it, right?

Suddenly, he was at the controls of a vehicle of some sort, and he was jerked forward as it impacted a building. He quickly put it into reverse, smashing into another building.

Then he was jumping out of the hatch, running towards a cliff's edge. He started climbing down the cliff, but fell and hit the water.

And as he hit the water, he landed into a crowd of children, and he was suddenly carrying a tray. He quickly tossed that tray away from himself, revealing an enemy. But he was not that enemy's intended target. The boy was pointing one of those metal objects somewhere else. Suddenly, there was a girl with golden hair next to Sarik, and he knew she was the target. Sarik rushed his enemy, hitting him in the chest and sending him flying.

And then, the scene around him changed again. Sarik was in a white room, and the flying boy was replaced by the girl who had just been standing next to him. And he was crying as he did. He rushed towards her...

Only to burst up from under water, pulling her along with him. He pushed her to land, where several men waited. They forced him into a chair, and one of the men, well dressed, pointed one of those metal objects at the girl. He yelled something at Sarik, then pulled the trigger.

And then, everything replayed itself in Sarik's mind, suddenly reorganized into its proper order.

* * *

"Stella!" Sarik screamed as he awoke.

He bolted straight up, surveying his surroundings, checking for any threats. Right there, next to him, was a woman that he couldn't identify in the heat of the moment. Sarik jumped backwards, getting as far away from her as possible. He needed a weapon, and quickly spotted one. Near the woman lay a knife in a sheath. The same knife and sheath he had used before.

Sarik bolted towards it, but was grabbed by the woman as he neared the weapon.

"Sarik!" she yelled.

Sarik turned towards her, breaking her grip. He recognized that voice. It was the voice of the instructor.

_Sarah._

"_You_!" Sarik yelled, striking her across the face, the entirety of his wrath and strength behind it.

Sarah allowed herself to role with the punch, but she felt something pop as she did. She brought her hands up in an involuntary attempt to protect herself.

"It's me!" Sarah screamed in pain as she started to crawl backwards.

"Oh, I know who you are," Sarik assured her arrogantly as he dramatically advanced closer to her. "You're the one who made sure I was ready, weren't you?"

"The instructor," he said with absolute disgust.

"Yes," Sarah admitted.

"And you're the one who betrayed us, gave us to them!" Sarik accused.

"I didn't have a choice," she replied calmly.

"Choice?" Sarik yelled in a crazed tone. "Choice?! You had every 'choice'. You didn't have to be there. You didn't have to work for them, to further their goals. But you did. And then, you left us to be treated like rats!"

"If I didn't leave, we couldn't have saved you," Sarah told him, standing.

"Saved?" Sarik laughed. "Saved? I did not need saving. I FOUGHT my way out of there. I FOUGHT to get her out of there. But you had to interfere. And that's why he got her. Because of you."

"I did not know..." Sarah started calmly.

Sarik lunged at her.

"You didn't 'know'?!" Sarik yelled as he struck Sarah down. "That's your excuse for trying to stop me? You didn't 'know'? If you were there, then you 'knew'. You knew about everything!"

Sarah attempted to get to her feet, but Sarik struck her in the face yet again, his inhuman strength causing her to fall back down.

"Why didn't you try to save her?" Sarik cried. "Why didn't you try to save Stella?"

"We didn't know..." Sarah started as she began rising once more.

"Excuses!" Sarik yelled as he brought a foot down on her hand. Even with bare feet, he had the force of someone years his senior. Sarah felt something crack, and let out a yell in pain.

* * *

"Get somebody in there!" Derick yelled to the men he had stationed nearby.

Sarah had instructed him to leave her alone no matter what, but this was getting dangerous. If Sarik killed her, there would be many problems he would have to deal with, not the least of Sarah being right.

"We could have saved her!" Derick heard Sarik yell. "I could have saved her. But you just HAD to get in the way, didn't you?"

This truly wasn't the Sarik he had known. This was a child who had experienced things. Things that made one age so much faster than their body.

But that age also meant a developed mind, didn't it? Perhaps he was making a deal with the devil in this decision. A dark deal, to be sure, but perhaps one that had definite potential for greatness.

* * *

"We did everything we could!" Sarah retorted, trying to rise again.

Sarik pulled back his arm to strike her again, but he stopped himself, dropping his fists to his sides. He allowed her to rise to her knees.

"So, in your failure, what possessed you to bring me back?" Sarik questioned menacingly. "What in the entire world made you think I could just come back and everything would be fine?"

"What?" Sarah asked, confused.

"You could have simply left me in the back of my own mind," Sarik continued on. "I was perfectly content with myself. I didn't need to feel the anger, the hatred, the _pain_. I could have lived the rest of my life as that child, contented with stupid, insignificant things. But you just had to continue in your meddling, didn't you?"

He glared at her, hatred evident in his eyes. But Sarah also perceived something else. Sadness. Pain. _Regret_.

"We had to bring you back, Sarik," Sarah told him calmly. "Would you have ever been able to do anything with your life if we didn't?"

"It doesn't matter!" Sarik yelled. "Don't you realize what I am? What I've done? In the course of hours, I killed dozens. Dozens! I even killed my friends! What makes you think that I won't use my power to kill you, or my father, or my...?"

Sarik stopped himself. So he couldn't bring himself to curse the one who had brought him life, the only one who had truly cared for him in his short life.

"I know you better than that," Sarah told Sarik confidently. "You don't want to hurt people."

Tears started to fall from Sarah's eyes. "You are too kind for that. That is why we had to bring you back. So you could remember that."

"What strikes you as kind, Sarah?" Sarik asked tauntingly, a crazed smirk on his face.

"Stella," Sarah reminded him.

Sarik's eyes widened suddenly, and he let out a roar in anger. Sarah was beginning to brace herself for another blow when she realized Sarik was now standing in front of the window, pathetically punching it.

"Stella is gone!" Sarik sobbed. "Gone, gone, gone!"

Sarah noticed that each time he said the word, he was hitting the window a little bit harder.

"Gone!" he cried. "She's gone!"

Sarik continued hitting the glass, near microscopic cracks appearing despite its reinforced design.

"Gone, gone, gone...!" Sarik yelled, his blood staining the glass.

Suddenly, he smashed his head against the glass, falling backwards from the impact. Sarah looked at the glass. There was a series of minute cracks in a pattern the size of head in the glass.

Suddenly, he rose back up, walking back towards the glass. Sarah rushed towards him, trying to stop him from harming himself further.

But Sarik turned his head in her direction in anger, blood covering one of his eyes. He let out a yell, and let loose a well placed kick into her abdomen, the force reaching up underneath her rib cage and knocking her to the floor, her breath gone.

"Because of you," he accused, forcing his foot into the center of her chest and holding it there, his body's weight holding Sarah down.

As Sarah regained her bearings, she realized Sarik was holding his sheathed knife in one hand and the photos in the the other.

"Gone," Sarik said coldly, though tears flooded from his swollen eyes. He tore the photo of Grey to shreds and tossed the scraps aside.

"Gone," Sarik sobbed as he ripped the image of Alex into the pieces.

"GONE!" he cried as he drew his knife and held Stella's picture in the other hand, readying to cut it through.

But he didn't. He dropped everything he held and fell to his knees, then let his body slump forward, his head planted on the floor.

"Gone!" Sarik cried into the carpet. "I'm sorry! I should have stayed with you!"

Sarah attempted to move closer, but Sarik noticed, and grabbed up his knife, forcing it to her throat.

"And it's because of you!" he screamed hatefully.

Sarah could feel the pressure from the knife increase, but Sarik never cut. What was stopping him if he hated her so much?

Suddenly, the door burst open, and two men armed with tasers barged in. They were both about to pull their triggers when Sarik rushed at them.

But Sarah already lunging, and tackled him to the ground from behind. Sarik did not struggle. He simply cried.

"I'm sorry," he sobbed as she tossed his knife away. "I'm so sorry."

Sarah knew he wasn't talking to her. He was reliving that last fight in his mind.

"It's all right," Sarah cooed as she brought Sarik into a strong embrace. "It's going to all right."

Sarik turned into her embrace, dropping all of his barriers and letting loose.

"Make it stop," he begged Sarah minutes later, pain filling his voice.

She looked down at him in pity, tears forming in her own eyes. She nodded at the guards, and one moved up to Sarik, preparing a syringe. He pressed it to Sarik's arm, and his sobs slowly became weaker. Within a minute, Sarik was breathing shallowly in a peaceful sleep.  
_  
Or so I hope,_ Sarah thought to herself. And that's what would have to drive her.

_Hope._


	20. Chapter 19

**CE 74**

Sarik rushed through the dark, towards where he had heard a baby crying. But he wasn't in control, and he knew neither where he was nor where he was headed. It was like he was an observer in his own body. What was going on?

Suddenly, Sarik burst into a lit room, what appeared to be a small kitchen of some sort. Inside was a woman dressed in a long night gown, her back to him. She had the same hair color and body shape as Stella, but the length of her blond mane was nearly to the small of her back. It couldn't be her, could it?

"Is she all right?" Sarik heard his mouth speak.

"She's fine," the woman's soft, quiet voice replied. Stella's voice.

She turned around, cradling a newborn child. It was Stella, he had no doubt about that, but she seemed to be older. The baby she held appeared to be a girl. For some reason, Sarik had the impression she would look like her mother when she was done growing, though her head was decorated by a small tuft of black hair.

Sarik's body reached out to run his hand through the child's hair, but he froze when the child opened her eyes suddenly and stared at him.

They were as black as ebony, and he knew he had just seen darkness incarnate.

* * *

Sarik's eyes snapped open, but he neither sat up abruptly nor did he fall out of his bed, as he normally would have. Somehow, he was able to remain lying there in his silent distress. It was merely a dream. Or a nightmare, depending on how one looked at it.

Sarik realized there was a great amount of light shining in through the giant window that made up one entire wall of his quarters, his personal room being no exception. He stared out at the brightly-colored ocean in the distance, trying to recall what had transpired the day before.

He and Amelia had boarded the _Ares_'s working mobile suits, Sarik taking the Astray, and she taking the working Murasame. They had moved in to engage Dominic's BABIs, but in the end, nothing more than potshots were exchanged, as the convoy managed to make it outside of ZAFT airspace just before the pursuing mobile weapons got close enough for their attacks to be effective. Sarik assumed this was because most of the transports had been mostly unloaded of their supplies, the planes' only excess weight, for the most part, being fuel.

Sarik squinted in the bright light, trying to discern the time on the clock that set upon the dresser to his left. For some reason, he always had a tendency to curl up on the left side of his over-sized bed at night, so that was where he had positioned most of his amenities.

But the chronometer was missing, along with the rest of his belongings. What was going on?

Deciding to investigate it later, Sarik rested his head back into one of his pillows and closed his eyes, trying to fall back to sleep. A few minutes later, he was falling into darkness when he realized there were gusts warm air blowing on his shoulder at consistent intervals. Breath.

Sarik glanced sleepily over to his right, noticing a human-sized lump underneath the sheets. It shifted a little, and he got a better look at its face. It was just Stella.

He leaned back into his pillows and tried falling back to sleep when it finally hit him.  
_  
Stella? Asleep? In my bed?_ Why was she asleep in his bed? With him? In fact, what was she even in his room? He thought Sarah had already taken care of that. Was this another dream?

Sarik lifted the sheets up and peeked underneath. She was dressed in what appeared to be a white, knee-length night gown. But that wasn't relevant. Why had he even bothered looking?

Then, he remembered that he had slipped on a pair of flannel bottoms in an attempt to dress for the night, though that was all he had managed to get on, as he had been that exhausted by the time he had arrived at his room. So why were they no longer on his body? He lifted the sheets up again. There they were, at the end of the bed.

Sarik raised his eyebrows as he tried to recall the events of the previous day. The _Ares_ landed, he checked in, grabbed a small snack, and headed to his room. But everything that happened after he had left the cafeteria was a blur. Other than the fact he knew he had exchanged his jumpsuit for a pair of pajama bottoms, he knew nothing.

"Oh my god!" he yelled aloud as it hit him, throwing himself as far away from Stella as humanly possible, ramming the back of his head into the corner of his dresser as he did. As his vision turned black, he heard Stella let out a whiny "umph" as her body hit the ground on the opposite side of the bed. Apparently, he had startled her with his reaction. Perhaps it wasn't a bad thing, either.

Sarik waited a moment for his vision and motor skills to return. As he started making things out, he forced his eyes closed when a massive and sudden headache overtook him. Once it subsided, he slowly cracked his eyes back open, realizing that Stella was kneeling over him, a worried, confused expression dominating her face.

"What the hell are you doing?!" Sarik growled angrily. "Get dressed, now!"

Stella backed away from him as he pulled himself to his feet, managing to get to his feet with the support of his bed. It was then he remembered how exposed he was.

"Go, hurry up!" Sarik ordered her.

Sarik held his hand to his head. How could he have let something like this happen? He knew he had to have been exhausted at the time, but still!And what was worse, he didn't remember a bit of it!He didn't think that his first would be REMOTELY like this.

Sarik quelled his wandering thoughts as he observed the ramifications. What would it make him look like? Would anyone on the Board find out? The law? Children?! This was going to ruin him!

Sarik smashed his fist into his bed in anger. Was that what that dream had been about? This stupid thing that he had allowed himself to do? Was it another of those damnable premonitions? But it couldn't have been. It wasn't like the others. As he moped, it occurred to Sarik that he was sitting there in practically nothing, and that he probably looked extremely ridiculous, especially with his hair being in the mess it was. He would have to get that cut today.

So that's what he would do. Just act like it was a normal day. Nothing was certain. Nothing set in stone. Just had to act like nothing happened...

But what is she was pregnant? That would show up, sooner or later. They couldn't keep THAT secret. He had to find out. But who had the technology to be able to tell or predict that so early on?

_Walters. _Sarik could trust him. Doctor Walters would know what to do. And if she didn't kill him, perhaps Sarah could help, too.

Sarik rose to pull one of the dresser drawers open, exposing several neatly paired outfits. He decided on a pair of khakis and a plain, black shirt. That would work. Nothing special was happening today, but he didn't want to dress irregularly. That would definitely give him away.

Sarik was sitting with his hands curled around his legs and his back to the bed when Stella left the bathroom, clothed in a dark blue sundress. He was beginning to wonder if that was her preferred color, as black or red was for him.

"Come one," Sarik told her calmly as he walked over and grabbed her hand, pulling her along.

He decided to take the long way to the infirmary. They would encounter fewer people taking that route, and it would give him time to think. There were several possible reactions that he knew he would get from Walters, depending on how the morning was going for the older man. And despite his usually good nature, one of those reactions could be very, VERY bad.

Ten minutes later, Sarik and Stella slipped seemingly unnoticed into the infirmary.

"Sit down somewhere," Sarik told her softly, leaving her at the back wall of the waiting room.

Sarik silently walked up to the front desk, scanning the moderately sized room as he did. No one else but a nurse was there. Good.

"Ma'am, is Doctor Walters available?" Sarik asked casually.

The young woman, who apparently hadn't noticed him entering, glanced up from the paperwork she was filling out.

"I'm sorry, President Ostheim, but he's currently in with a patient," the nurse replied matter-of-fact. "Perhaps I can get you in with him in a few minutes?"

"Is the patient in question in a life-threatening situation?" Sarik questioned coldly.

"I can't tell you..." the lady started.

"You're not a doctor, so cut the confidentiality crap," Sarik interrupted irritably. "Is this person going to die in the next few hours if he's not treated?"

The woman glared at Sarik as she punched a button on the desk's phone. A moment later, Walters answered.

"Lisa, I've told you before, I'm only to be contacted in emergencies when I'm in with a patient," Walters soft voice came over the phone's intercom.

"It's the President," she informed him. "Says he needs to see you."

"You can tell the President that he can get a grip, or that he can shove it..." Walters started to rant in a suddenly irritated tone.

"I have the speaker phone on," the nurse informed him.

"Can you wait five minutes, Sarik?" Walters asked in a sigh.

"Fine," Sarik responded just loud enough for the older man to hear.

And with that, Walters hung up without another word.

Five minutes later, the middle-aged doctor entered the waiting area, searching for Sarik, but only spotting Stella. He began walking towards the girl, assuming there was something wrong with her.

"We need to talk," Sarik said from his resting point along the wall, a meter away from the door.

"Unless it's medically related, you really need to talk with Sarah," Walters informed him.

"It's definitely medically related," Sarik assured the doctor. "We need to talk. In absolute privacy."

Walters glanced once around the room, then returned through the door to the back, Sarik on his heels. He entered into a small office, located just before the examination rooms, and closed the door as the young Extended entered.

"So, what's the medical emergency?" Walters asked, all hint of annoyance gone. "We should make this quick, because I doubt you should keep Stella waiting."

"I think that I've done something bad," Sarik confessed.

"You sure this isn't Sarah's job?" Walters questioned, amused.

"Something bad involving Stella," Sarik continued.

"Uh huh," Walters said. "English please?"

"She was in my bed this morning," Sarik told him.

"Uh huh?" Walters repeated.

"And I had no pants on," Sarik finished.

"Uh...oh," Walters remarked, finally understanding.

"Good for you," the doctor congratulated.

"Don't you understand what this could mean for me?!" Sarik asked in a serious tone.

"Explain," Walters suggested.

"Well, first off, I don't even remember any of it," Sarik told him, his calm starting to wear. "I walked into my room yesterday afternoon, and that's all I can recall."

"Which means there was probably no protection..." Walters deduced drably.

"Uh huh," Sarik remarked, emphasizing each word with a nod of his head in a slow, sarcastic manner.

"I can see where this is going," Walters observed as he looked over a sheet of paperwork, shaking his head as he set it down.

"And she's sixteen," Sarik informed him.

"So?" Walters questioned casually as he picked up some more paperwork.

"I'm three years older," Sarik observed.

"You're nineteen, so what?" the Doctor inquired.

"Do the words 'Statutory Rape' ring any bells?" Sarik questioned, a slight whine forming on his voice.

"No one's enforced those laws in years," Walters replied. "Not between two youngsters like yourselves, anyways. Now if you were my age..."

Sarik let out a loud and audible growl.

"If anyone finds out, this could ruin me!" Sarik yelled. "It would be the career-making case for the prosecutor who found out. 'Billionaire playboy indicted for sex scandal involving Minor.' "

"Sarik, sit down," Walters suggested, motioning at one of the chairs situated along the office's wall. "First off, almost no one knows the girl is here. IF someone managed to find out about this, they wouldn't likely be able find any records on Stella."

Sarik calmed his breathing and allowed a cold composure fall over him.

"No one can find out, regardless," Sarik said adamantly.

"There's a female colleague of mine here who I think we can trust," Walters informed Sarik. "I'll keep Stella around to run a few tests. Why don't you just run though your normal morning routine while I arrange a counsel session with Sarah for you two? Alright?"

Sarik realized this was more of a demand rather than a suggestion. By now, it was too late for him to say no.

"Fine," Sarik complied as he stood. "Give me a call in a couple of hours."

"You'll be the first to hear anything," Walters assured him.

Sarik nodded as he left, glancing over some of the paperwork Walters had lain out. He froze as he thought he spotted the word "herpes" on one report.

"Something wrong?" Walters asked, picking up a whole new stack of paperwork.

Sarik glanced over the line again. He couldn't find it again. He probably wouldn't. That disease was practically extinct. Just his imagination.

"Nope," the young man replied as he almost ran out of the office.

* * *

Amelia was in the process of stalking through the hallways in the odd way that she did when she spotted Sarik leave the infirmary. She was about to sneak on to her next destination when she perceived that something was wrong. Rather than walking with the straight-back composure that he normally did, he was slouching slightly. He also had the most ghastly expression on his face, accompanied by skin as pale as a ghost.

After Sarik was a fair distance down the corridor, Amelia silently darted across the hallway and cracked open the door to the infirmary's waiting room. Something interesting had to be going on.

"...will be here soon," she heard Walter's kindly voice say. "Do you think you could wait here until she arrives?"

"Uh huh," someone replied, an adolescent girl, from the sounds of it.

"Thanks," Walters told her. "Don't worry, we'll get this all sorted out."

As Walters walked back towards his office, Amelia poked her small head inside the room. A quick survey revealed that there was only a single, inattentive nurse occupying the desk at the front of the room, intent on filling out some sort of paperwork. The only patient-in-waiting was a blond-haired girl who looked to be around her age. Amelia wondered if she was the source of Sarik's depression. If that was the case, there were only so many scenarios and combinations of such plausible. It was all so very amusing. Nothing remotely interesting had happened since they settled here after the end of the last war, at least until recently. Now, it seemed, that they were being bombarded all at once. She was slightly insulted by the fact that up to this point, she had almost no involvement in any of it.

Amelia sneaked along the edge of the room, keeping a wide berth between her and the girl. She was nearly to the door that lead to the examination rooms when Amelia felt like someone was boring a drill into the side of her head. She looked off at the nurse, but the woman was so intent on her work that she hadn't even remotely noticed Amelia, who was now only a couple of meters away. That meant only the girl was left.

As Amelia turned her head slowly to look at the girl, it seemed as if all of the blood in her body had frozen solid. She didn't know why, but Amelia felt that she knew this girl, and that she had experienced this piercing gaze before. The girl stared at Amelia as if she were trying to find the most efficient way to kill an insect.

But, as if on a whim, the girl turned her attention elsewhere, and Amelia instinctively reached for her hidden sidearm from the sudden movement. But the blond was now staring off into space, and no longer looked threatening. She almost looked helpless, maybe even a little concerned.

Amelia removed her hand from her holster as she slipped into the back rooms, hoping to find out more of what was going on. She heard someone speaking in an agitated tone from Walters's office, so she forced her back to the wall and listened.

"I think the boy is overreacting," she heard Walters say. "I don't believe that he would allow himself to do such a thing, even if he WERE out of his right mind."

There was silence for a moment.

"Regardless, this incident wouldn't have happened if you had made SOME attempt to inform him about the arrangements that were made WITHOUT his authorization," he accused.

"Yes, I realize the implications of what he thinks he did," Walters said after another moment of silence. "And I realize what this could look like to the Board. But I don't think anything actually happened! If you had simply told him..."

There was yelling from some sort of device, probably a phone.

"Well, you should have made time!" Walters scolded, raising his voice. "You could have contacted him just about any time during his flights to and from Eurasia."

So he was speaking on the phone. And if her guess was worth anything, to his wife.

"You didn't want to BOTHER him?" Walters remarked. "I don't care if he was going through a hard time. You could have at least made mention of it at one point or the other. Sent a text communication or something. At least then he probably wouldn't have ended up in this mess."

There was a long period of silence from Walters, and Amelia could here loud yelling from the other end.

"And would that really be a bad thing? A young man and a young woman boarding in the same quarters? Most would consider it highly inappropriate, if not suspicious! I realize the boy needs more personal responsibility, but just dumping THIS responsibility on him without any sort advance notice was stupid! You're the only one who would have arranged something like this!"

Walters let out a light groan as the yelling intensified. Amelia could even make out a word here and there, and by now, was adamant in her assumption that it was Sarah.

"Look, Sarah, I didn't call to fight," Walters told her, calming down. "I'm sorry I lost control. We need to do some tests on Stella to confirm a few things. Do you think you could come down here and help out? You can tell just by looking at her she's not very comfortable with all of this."

Another moment of silence. A long and awkward silence.

"Yes, we can do those tests while we're at it," Walters replied. "Might clear up some issues. All the more reason you should be here."

Amelia began creeping back towards the entrance, as she knew the conversation was ending.

"All right. See you in a few minutes. Love you."

Amelia quickly slipped back into the lobby and made a beeline for the exit, not caring about being spotted by Stella or the nurse. She had to find Sarik and figure out what happened. She had a good idea of what had transpired, as she knew this was exactly how he would be acting in that situation.

* * *

Sarik lugged the heavy cases into the indoor firing range. He had been smart enough to equip his ear plugs before hand, so the combination of security personnel and Extendeds firing their weapons did not bother him.

What DID bother him was the weight of the weapons he was carrying. They were all locked into plastic cases or covered by vinyl sleeves, making them somewhat difficult to grasp. Besides that fact, he was probably carrying ten different guns. One of the techies had asked him to try out some a few of the new rifles that were fresh off the assembly line, along with some of the new plasma-based ammunition designed specifically for them. Of course, Sarik could never give up a chance to try a new weapon, not even once. As a result, he was lugging nearly eighty kilograms worth of equipment, and this morning, he just didn't have the extra spunk after his horribly failed attempt to keep breakfast down. He knew he looked ridiculous taking one exaggerated step after another as he approached his booth.

He let out a sigh as he set the cases on the ground. He probably had enough ammunition here with him to make a mid-powered explosive. What a wonderful thought.

Sarik decided to take it easy for starters. He popped open the smallest case and pulled out his .45, which he had yet to holster, and hopefully wouldn't have to today. He clipped one of the paper targets lying in a stack in the booth onto the wire hanging above him, then punched a distance into the small computer built into the left side of the booth. The wire pulled the man-sized sheet out to a range of twenty five meters and stopped.

After donning a pair of ballistic glasses, Sarik loaded the large pistol and lined up with his target. Then, he quickly snapped off a pair of shots. One hit in the stomach area of the target, while the other hit it in the hip. A horrible set, as he was aiming for the upper chest.

Sarik realized then that his breathing was erratic. He calmed himself, then let loose another pair of shots. They both nailed the target where the chest would have been, though they were probably a little low for a heart shot.

_Why was I so stupid?!_ Sarik asked himself as he fired another shot, not really paying attention to the results. He had always known this wasn't something he wanted. The way things were looking, he wasn't going to be around much longer. He hadn't the right to possibly force such a burden on someone, Stella especially. There was no way she could handle that responsibility, especially on her own. She probably had no idea what had transpired, did she? Even if nothing came of this, it still wasn't right. What was it called? A one night stand, right? People like that disgusted Sarik. Men who took advantage of others like that were nothing more than animals, no better than dogs on the street. They viewed people as a source for gratification or a means-to-an-end. And in this case, he had taken advantage of someone who probably had the maturity of a pre-adolescent, if Sarah's assessment had been correct. Was this the level that he had fallen to?!

Sarik finished emptying the pistol's magazine, then placed it back in its foam-lined case. That was enough of a warm up. He set the container on the ground and picked up one of the guns encased in leather.

As Sarik was loading the sniper rifle, he couldn't help but become annoyed at three Extendeds in their early teens occupying the booths to his right, who were shooting erratically with their pistols. Normally, the young Extendeds that the company had taken responsibility for wouldn't bother him, except that they were unloading entire clips on their targets in less than twenty seconds per magazine. A pointless waste of ammunition, and was poor practice for habit, though he assumed that there was some sort of contest going on, though what kind, he had no idea. Perhaps he would join in in his own way.

Sarik finished preparing his rifle and set up another target. It began moving down the range, and everyone within four booths of him averted his gaze as it traveled past the two hundred meter mark, eventually stopping several seconds later at five hundred meters.

Sarik extended the bi-pod attached to the bottom of the rifle's barrel and began sighting in. A minute later, a deafening boom engulfed the range as a 9mm ultramagnum cartridge ignited, sending its bullet flying at speeds excess of one thousand meters per second. The target fluttered as the round struck. Sarik waited for the paper to settle, then let another shot loose from the semi-automatic weapon. Six additional shots later, the internal magazine ran dry. Sarik set his rifle down as he called the target back. Happy with the results, he rotated the sheet parallel to the wire and sent it back out to five meters. Every one of his shots had hit the head dead center, creating a roughly circular-shaped hole about two or three centimeters wide.

Sarik smirked when the shooting to his right abruptly ended. The Extended closest to him shrugged his shoulders, and all three of the trainees began packing their weapons. After he was satisfied they wouldn't start back up, Sarik disposed of the trashed target and prepared his next weapon. He decided to practice with the light machine gun. Not his favorite weapon, but it occasionally had its uses.

* * *

Amelia strolled into the firing range carrying her own choice of weapons. Contained within the two cases that she held was her personalized submachine gun and .50 caliber sniper rifle. She had become efficient with both, and even had some experience with them in combat. But she wasn't here for the practice. Not today.

As Amelia walked by the booths, she observed that one of the new Extendeds having a hard time with his weapon, a mid-caliber pistol. He was probably recently rescued, as he only looked to be twelve or thirteen. She felt it was really a shame that Sarik was having them trained at such an early age, but she knew it was necessary. None of this would be here right now if not for some of the operations that they often ran against Blue Cosmos and other problematic organizations, several of which she had participated in.

Amelia set her cases down, and as the boy was reloading, walked into his booth and gently placed a hand on his shoulder.

She soon realized her mistake as the boy grabbed her by the wrist and tried to force her arm behind her back. Amelia quickly countered, and easily broke from the child's grasp.

"You're shooting too fast," Amelia informed him once he had calmed down, motioning at the target ten meters away, which was riddled with bullet holes in all parts of the body. "Fire in timed sets of one or two rounds so that you can let your gun level. You're shots will be a lot more accurate."

After displaying a warm smile, Amelia walked back to her equipment and picked it back up. Soon, she found herself in the booth to the left of Sarik's.

Sarik noticed Amelia as she was partially done loading her sniper rifle, and began loading one of his own. It looked like one of the new 11mm variants that were still being tested, the one designed for those new "charge" rounds, bullets using a new plasma-based propellant. One of the younger techs had once had the nerve to boast that the 11mm sniper round was even more accurate and powerful than the ones used in Amelia's customized .50 cal, despite the 11mm cartridge's significantly smaller size. She had yet to get her hands on one to prove him wrong.

Sarik had set his target at 300 meters. After his target stopped moving, Amelia set hers at 500, and, as she expected, Sarik reset his to 600. After a moment of playing cat and mouse, they both gave up at 900 meters.

It was nearly two minutes later when they both began firing. Sarik fired three times, then called his target back. Amelia did the same, though taking much more time in between shots.

When the targets returned, Amelia proved to be the victor. Sarik's shots were within millimeters of each other, but horrible compared to his norm, even considering the fact that he was using a new gun. Amelia's, on the other hand, were almost perfectly on top of each other, the rough edges of the large hole barely noticeable.

"What do you want?" Sarik asked loudly as he clipped another target onto the wire, though with the ear plugs and the gunfire, no one but Amelia would be able to hear him.

"What happened?" Amelia questioned as Sarik began loading another of his guns, a more familiar shorty assault rifle that had been out for a few months.

"With what?" he inquired as he sighted on his target.

"With that girl," Amelia told him.

She noticed Sarik move the rifle's selector switch from semi to full automatic, and soon after, he unloaded the gun's entire clip on the target, blue flames spitting from the assault weapon's barrel. When Sarik recovered the paper sheet, it showed that his attack was incredible accurate, managing to place all of his bullets in the chest or stomach area. But for him, it was still a bit off, though normally, he was smart enough to fire in bursts. Something was definitely bugging him.

"Its of no importance to you," Sarik answered as he practically dropped the gun and walked off, leaving all of his equipment in the booth.

"It's obviously enough to be bothering you," Amelia remarked as she caught up with him.

Sarik held a door open for her, pulling his ear plugs out as he did.

"And it should bother me, and me alone," he replied. "It would be better if you would not get involved."

"I know who she is," Amelia told him. "She's the girl in that picture."

"Yes, I know," Sarik said as they walked down the corridor briskly.

"Which means I have a score to settle," Amelia informed him.

"It was eleven years ago," Sarik said. "She won't even remember you. I don't think she really remembers me. I was just the first thing she saw after waking up. A mother hen reaction."

"Ya, right," Amelia remarked sarcastically under her breath. "Just as long as she won't go psycho on me during one of her flashbacks, we'll be fine."

"Again, not your problem," Sarik assured the teenage blond.

"If she hurts anyone, it will be," Amelia told him. "You know how I am."

"She won't," Sarik replied in a harsh tone that ended the conversation.

Amelia sighed, then broke away from him into a branching corridor. It was obvious the conversation was over.

* * *

As Sarik watched Amelia walk off, his cell phone went off, startling him. This wasn't good for him to be so jumpy. If this kept up, he would end up hurting someone.

"What's up?" he asked as he attached a headpiece to his ear.

"We have a problem with the ZAFT agent," one of his Coordinator body guards told him. "She just knocked out the security personnel we had stationed outside of her room, and is currently loose in the facility. Two of us are in pursuit."

"Alright, where's she seem to be headed?" Sarik asked, moving down the corridor as fast as he could without running.

"Research and development," the Coordinator replied.

Sarik broke into an all out run. That's where he was headed just now. He could head her off. But how did she know where to go? She wasn't moving in that direction by sheer accident.

As Sarik came up on the next corridor, a mane of black hair went rushing by.

Sarik darted after the smaller girl, who was surprisingly fast for her age, even for a Coordinator. But, due to his taller build, he caught up with her quickly and tackled her to the ground, though he did not put the full force of his weight behind it, not wanting to harm her. His mistake.

The girl bashed her head upward, catching Sarik in the mouth. He almost reared up out of reflex, but was able to stop himself, knowing that she would wriggle free if he did.

"Settle down," Sarik ordered her, forcing more of his weight into her back. He held her like that until two of his personal guard caught up with them.

Sarik made eye contact with one, who nodded in compliance and pulled his side-arm from its holster, pointing it at the two on the floor.

"I'm going to get up slowly," Sarik told Anika. "Don't try to run."

Sarik kept a hand on the small girl's shoulder as he picked himself up, sliding his legs forward so that he wouldn't have to let go of her as he rose.

"Now stand up slowly," Sarik ordered her, stepping forward into the corridor to block off all routes of escape.

The girl rose to her feet, as ordered, surveying the area the entire time for a way to escape, as Sarik predicted.

"Back to your room," the other of Sarik's men ordered, putting his hand on Anika's shoulder just as Sarik was reaching out to stop him.

The girl saw an opportunity and took it, grabbing the other Coordinator's hand and breaking his wrist. She was going for his pistol when Sarik pulled out his own side-arm and shot.

The girl collapsed as a .45 caliber round stuck into the back of her knee. Anika let out a cry unfit for any soldier as she writhed helplessly on the floor, an overloaded shock round pumping dangerously high amounts of electricity through her body, more than enough to stop a determined coordinator or Extended.

"I warned you once," Sarik reminded her, firing another round into her back as she tried to rise, though he quickly realized it was completely unnecessary. "Next time, it's for real."

The young girl took a moment to glare at him in rage before the able Coordinator guard lifted her up and began carrying her towards the infirmary.

"Take her back to her quarters," Sarik ordered him. "Have a doctor care for her there."

"We need to adjust the security arrangements," Sarik told the other. "Walk with me for a moment."

* * *

Sarik sighed as he strolled in the opposite direction. She was merely a child, and he had intentionally tortured her in order to get a point across. He knew that second shot was out of anger, a deliberate act. It was completely wrong. One did not harm children, even for the greatest of reasons. Why did he threaten her as he did? He knew that if it truly came to it, he wouldn't be able to go through with it. Just another entry to add to his list of bad events this day.

Sarik stopped for a moment as he came upon the R&D center, wondering if what everything he was doing was right. He quelled his doubts as he ran a keycard through the scanner and the doors separated. Doubts were for those who had no direction.

* * *

Amelia slipped in the doors behind Sarik just as they sealed shut. What business would he have here? No one had called him, as far as she knew, and Amelia knew he absolutely hated dealing with the engineers down here when they did. He had complained incessantly about it only a year before, when everything was hectic.

The sixteen year old girl watched from the shadows as Sarik was met by an older man that she was unfamiliar with. Amelia followed them towards a section of the facility that she never realized existed. But who would? The entrance to the location was completely inconspicuous, even to her. Perhaps it was added on recently?

"I want you to input all of the mobile suit data from the skirmish in Eurasia into the Zero project," she heard Sarik order. "I want all fighting styles to be analyzed and the weapons aboard the mobile units to be modified for all variations that we have observed so far."

"What about the salvage from the Destroy, sir?" Amelia heard the unfamiliar man ask.

"Analyze it, and see if we can reverse engineer the technologies," Sarik told him. "I'm particularly interested in the enhanced neuro-link tech. I think it could significantly improve the TacStar devices, and perhaps help even us with our trouble involving the mobile platforms."

"But only an Extended would be able to use those particular devices if that technology were to be integrated into ours," the man observed. "Maybe a Coordinator, if I had a couple years to perfect them."

"Not your problem," Sarik told him. "Now, how is construction of the _Corsair_ and its support ships coming along?"

"We're nearly finished," the engineer informed him. "We've already begun loading supplies aboard them. All that the ships need now are bridge crews."

"Have you found suitable candidates?" Sarik inquired.

"Yes," the man replied. "Including several of those you referred. I think you will be pleased with my recommendation for the Commanders."

There was silence for a moment. Sarik was probably looking down some sort of list.

"I am pleased," Sarik commented with a hint of enthusiasm. "Your recommendation for the _Corsair _is a bit young, but suitable. How quickly can you have the crews trained? We may need to make use of these resources in the immediate future."

"I can begin right away," the man informed him.

"Then do so," Sarik ordered. "These two projects are your top priority. I want them both ready for launch by the end of the week and fully operational within a week after that, if nothing occurs before then."

"We'll try our best," the man complied.

"I trust you will," Sarik commented. "That's the entire reason I made you head of this project."

Amelia heard the older man sigh.

"I know," he assured Sarik. "I just don't like the fact that we have to do this in secret."

"We're at war with organizations just as secretive, if not more," Sarik reminded. "The difference between us and them is that we want to build, they want to destroy."

"The use of nuclear technologies isn't exactly what I consider constructive," the man told Sarik.

"We'll see," Sarik finished after a tense moment of silence. "Have a good day, Michael."

Amelia was so caught up in the conversation that she had forgotten where she was. She quickly stalked back along the way she had come and waited for Sarik to leave. He did so without a second's glance.

Amelia slipped out behind Sarik just before the doors closed, thinking she hadn't been caught.

"So you know," Sarik remarked, stopping in his tracks.

"Somewhat," Amelia replied, knowing she'd been had.

"Good," he said. "Because you're a part of it, now."

Amelia stared at the back of Sarik's head in confusion, then reacted as he tossed something towards her. She snatched the small object out of the air. It was a datapad.

"That's to help you with everything that's about to happen," Sarik informed her. "Found it lying around in a ZAFT warehouse. Figured someone could use it."

Amelia stared at the blank, hand-held screen. She wondered what he meant.

But before she could look up and ask, Sarik was already gone.

Amelia shrugged, then powered on the small device. "YFX-600R GuAIZ Experimental Firearms Type Mod 0" appeared on the screen.

* * *

Sarik walked with a solemn air about him as he proceeded towards the infirmary. It had only been a couple hours since he left Stella with Walters, and the doctor had betrayed no emotion when he last called Sarik. Hopefully that meant things could be either way.

Sarik entered the infirmary waiting room, surprised that no one was there. Normally, it was packed by mid-day.

Sarik walked up to the desk and asked the same nurse from earlier for Doctor Walters. A few minutes later, the middle-aged man joined Sarik in waiting room.

"Well, Sarik, how was your morning?" Walters asked him casually, shifting through various articles of paperwork.

"Horrible," the young man replied irritably. "You have the results?"

Walters face went blank.

"Well, Sarik, I need you to be calm, as the news could good or bad, depending on how you take it," Walters replied. "It looks like you're going to be a father."

Sarik froze as every muscle in his body seized up. His stomach began cramping, and pain cut through his head like a knife. An entire morning's tension was taking its toll all at once.

Walters, however, did not seem to take notice.

"According to the genetic testing, she'll weight approximately three point five kilograms at birth, have black hair, and purple eyes," he continued.

Sarik, however, barely registered any sound, much less the words that Walters had just spoken. He looked up as everything became an extremely bright white, and an intense throbbing sound dominated his sense of sound.

How could this happen? What were the chances of it all? Was it fate that had manipulated events like this? Some sort of God? A world conspiring against him?

"Sarik?" Walters's voice echoed lightly through his head. "Are you all right?"

The brightness overwhelmed Sarik, and he collapsed to the floor.

"Sarik?!" he heard an indecipherable woman's voice yell before he fell unconscious.

* * *

Sarik awoke on an examination table, three figures hovering over him. Two of them were yelling.

"You are a complete bastard!" he heard Sarah yell. "You went too far this time!"

"I didn't think the boy would faint from it!" Walters retorted. "It was meant to be a split second joke."

"That's not something you joke about," Sarah replied darkly. "You'll be lucky if you keep your job after this."

"Why don't both of you shut up," Amelia suggested. "It's pointless to argue now."

"Now listen here, Young Lady..." Sarah started.

"She's right," Sarik said, opening his eyes. "It's pointless to argue now."

Sarah let out a sigh of relief.

"I thought you would never wake up," she told Sarik. "I didn't realize that you hadn't had a dose of your medication since you left the base three days ago."

Sarik thought back on it. He hadn't, had he?

"That was very stupid, considering the stress you put yourself through the entire time," Sarah informed him.

"It was also stupid of you to not have come to me after having a concussion," Walters remarked.

"Concussion?" Sarik asked.

"Yes, an MRI revealed that you had a concussion within the past twenty-four hours," Walters informed him.

That explained why he was unconscious after hitting the dresser.

"Well, now that everything is said and done," Sarik remarked. "What are we going to do about this?"

Sarah glared at Walters, like he was supposed to tell him something.

"Well, you see, that show earlier," the man started. "It meant as a harmless joke. You know, to lighten the mood later on?"

Sarik kept still as every muscle in his body seemed to pull itself towards Walters in an attempt to tear him to shreds. Sarah was right. That wasn't something to joke about.

"In fact, further testing showed that Stella has never had sexual intercourse in her life," Walters informed frankly.

Sarik felt every muscle in his body relax in that second, and he let out a large sigh in relief.

"Though it's a good thing that she didn't, because if you had, there's a good chance you two would be eloping," Walters finished somewhat jokingly. He was soon hunching over as Sarah planted a most powerful punch in his stomach.

"I've never done that before," Sarik admitted. "My pants, I mean."

"You did a couple times after we brought you home from that facility," Sarah told him. "You slept pretty restlessly for the longest time."

"Well..." Amelia said as she looked off towards one of the walls.

Sarah looked around Sarah at Amelia, who was sitting in the back of the room behind the older woman.

"What?" Sarik inquired.

"Oh, nothing," she answered. "Just today. Nothing out of the ordinary."

Sarik glared at her. He tolerated her attitude because she was his friend, but this entire affair was getting awkward.

"I wouldn't have thought anything happened if Sarah had done her job correctly," Sarik remarked, glaring up at the black-haired woman.

"I didn't really have a chance to," Sarah replied in her defense. "And if you had been a little more observant, you would have noticed most of your things were in boxes.

Sarik sighed. He had noticed that on his way out this morning. He wondered how he had missed it earlier.

"Well, at least nothing came of it," he huffed. "All is well."

He turned to Sarah, a stern look on his face most his age were incapable of.

"But could speak to Stella about certain...subtle things for me?" Sarik requested, a slight blush forming on his cheeks. "Like why to not crawl into bed with other people? There is only so much that would be appropriate for me to discuss with her, I would think."

Sarah sighed.

"I probably should have taken care of that a while ago," she admitted under her breath as she calmed herself. "But now will not do. I think you need to apologize to Stella. Right now."

"For what?" Sarik questioned, the insult obvious in his voice.

"You gave her quite a scare this morning," Sarah informed him. "She was crying when I got here."

Sarik glanced up at the ceiling and scratched the back of his head. Then he realized something. He still had to go into town and get his hair cut.

"Do you think she could survive in public for a few hours?" he asked Sarah.

"I don't see why not," she replied. "Why?"

"I need to go into town," Sarik told her. "Take some time to cool down. I wondered if you thought she would mind coming along."

"I don't think she should mind at all, though it isn't me you should be asking," Sarah said. "It's been so long since you've been on a date."

Sarik glared at the older woman as he began blushing again.

"I don't think of her like that," he growled, his face growing stern again.

"Now, now, be honest with yourself," Sarah taunted.

"I'm being as honest as I can," Sarik replied, standing. "If I had a sister, I would hope she was Stella."

"Very well," Sarah complied, her tone indicating she wasn't convinced. Sarik had to admit, his own words sounded unconvincing to him, too, though for other reasons than Sarah's implications. It had been so long since he had seen Stella. Things could easily be different.

"Would you like an escort?" Amelia asked, trying to betray no emotion in her voice.

Sarik, however, detected hints of concern, fear, and..._jealousy_, maybe?

"I don't know," he told her. "Do you think three could fit on a motorcycle?"

"You're going on that thing?" Sarah questioned, concern flooding her voice.

"I don't see why not," Sarik answered. "It's quick, maneuverable, easy to start up. If we ran into trouble, I could have us moving almost instantly."

"And you could be killed just as instantly," Sarah replied.

"Well, we're not going to run into any trouble," Sarik informed her. "I had three security suites set up in town on my way back from Eurasia. There can be ten security personnel anywhere within a minute of my beckoning call."

Sarah sighed.

"Nothing I can say would stop you at this point, would it?" she asked.

"Nope," Sarik replied, barging out of the room confidently. Perhaps a little too confidently.

A few minutes later, he was pulling Stella along towards the exit.

"He really needs to learn how to interact with women properly," Walters remarked, shaking his head.

"You have no idea," Amelia almost laughed as shook her head with him, though it was quickly replaced with a frown.

* * *

Sarik sped along the highway, enjoying every minute of it. Next to flying, this was his favorite thing to do. The illusion of freedom it gave was like ecstasy for him.

Though, today, he was taking it relatively slow, as he had a passenger, and wasn't sure how she would react. However, he had slowly brought up the speed over time, and Stella didn't seem to have become unsettled. Every time he peered into one of his rear-view mirrors, he found her staring off at the ocean, which was just off of the cliffs that the highway was built on.

After stopping at a local spa to get an almost military-style hair cut while simultaneously spending nearly an hour attempting to explain to Stella the concept of a magazine, Sarik cruised down the main road of the small, beach-side town for a few minutes. While it had no skyscrapers, or even a skyline that exceeded thirty meters, there were many specialty shops within it, along with a few world-class restaurants. And though the island was small and generally unnoticed by most of the world's governments, it proved to be the ideal location to enjoy a weekend, and received tourists frequently. However, this particular day seemed quiet, with only an occasional vehicle parked on the streets outside of the many shops that dominated the central section of the community.

Sarik continued to cruise along the lane, maneuvering the motor bike into a parking spot when he arrived at the location for which he was searching. After ensuring the kickstand was fully extended, Sarik stepped off of the small vehicle and offered Stella his hand, partially lifting her off with his strength alone. As she came to a rest on the ground, she grasped his arm lightly and forced herself close to him.

Sarik blushed slightly and was about to break away from her grip when he noticed that as she did this that she was looking around as if something was frightening her. In fact, the entire stance was like that of a frightened child clinging to her mother or father. And Stella seemed truly frightened, something that concerned Sarik. Perhaps it had been stupid to bring her somewhere this unfamiliar. But why was she acting this way now? He thought she had been fine earlier.

Sarik decided to allow her to continue holding him as such until she had calmed. A moment later, everything about Stella's demeanor relaxed. Keeping her grip on his arm, she looked up at him, a soft and questioning expression on her face, as if she were asking, "Well?"

So Sarik took a step forward, assuming that Stella would follow along, inconspicuously breaking the awkward position that he felt they were in. However, she stepped with him, and in all of her grace, managed to hold the exact same position the entire time.

Sarik sighed, then glanced around. There was really no one to see him with her like this. Impulse took over his personal logic, and he stepped forward towards the small restaurant. Breakfast had been a no-go, and after the mornings events, he was starving. After having spent several days on rations, he needed something far beyond "out of the ordinary".

Sarik and Stella were soon inside of restaurant, waiting for the host to seat them. Sarik used the time of relative peace to come to terms with himself. Thinking about it now, the way he and Stella were together like this wasn't all that uncomfortable. He might even be able to derive some sort of pleasure from it, if he would allow himself to relax that much.

But was it right? Would it be right to think of her in that way? First off, he was nearly three years her senior. If they were both adults, that might not make much of a difference. But for most people their ages, it was nearly worlds apart. And considering Stella's prior actions and reactions, he was willing to bet that she had been kept ignorant of many things that most her age were well informed about. The morning's scare made him think about how easily someone could take advantage of her in so many respects.

And that was another thing. If he started thinking of her in that way, what was to say that he wouldn't start thinking of her in other ways, ways that he considered disgusting and undisciplined? And what if that would eventually soften him to the point that he would act upon those thoughts? It would be most wrong of him of anyone else on Earth to take advantage of her like that. It would be wrong for him to take advantage of any woman.

Sarik snapped out of his thoughts as the host indicated to him that they had arrived at the appropriate table. It was the one he had actually reserved, outside on the restaurant's stone beach-side patio. Coming here during mid-day seemed to have its perks. He would have to do it more often.

After the host placed a two sets of silverware and a corresponding set of menus, he left the apparent couple to their own machinations. Sarik, remembering the courtesies that his parents had drilled so well into him, slid one of the small table's well-crafted chairs out for Stella. She did not seem to understand, so he carefully broke away from her grasp and gestured. Once she was situated, Sarik took the chair across from her.

After taking a couple minutes to survey the area for any threats, Sarik lifted his menu and began skimming through its pages. He had no idea what he wanted, and was tempted to order a half dozen dishes just to sample them. He set the menu down and sighed in frustration after a few pointless minutes of indecisiveness.

It was then that Stella caught his attention. He was dazzled by her simple beauty, how the light was hitting her skin and hair just right in the midday sun, how well her dress complimented her eyes...

Sarik snapped out of his unguarded thoughts. Her _dress_? Why the hell was he looking there?

As he brought his mental defenses back up, Sarik noticed that Stella was examining her menu like it was something that could blow up in her face, taking time to scan every square centimeter of the material. She seemed to take a notice of the pictures and descriptions on the various pages, but her facial expressions indicated that she had no idea of what their intended function was.

"Do you see anything you would like to eat?" Sarik asked softly, a little emotion flowing into his voice unintentionally.

She glanced up at him for a few seconds, then returned to examining the menu, though this time, it seemed she was actually trying to decide on one of the meals. It seemed she picked up on hints well, at least. So even if she didn't know _what_ was wrong, she could tell when _something_ was wrong...

Sarik shook his head lightly as he folded his arms and stared out at the ocean. Had her overlords truly isolated her that much from the world? Obviously, she had seen a town before, and knew somewhat how to act properly in public, but she was still so ignorant that a common menu was alien to her. Either that, or her benefactors never gave her a choice in her meals. If William had anything to do with her life, that might be a possibility.

Sarik picked up his menu and returned to selecting a meal. It was driving him crazy. What did he want? There were so many things on the menu, and he didn't have a craving for any particular one. He was simply hungry.

He had narrowed his choices down to about five different meals when a waiter arrived, asking for his choice in beverage.

"Water with lemon," Sarik answered after a moment's contemplation. Something sour didn't sound all that bad right now. It certainly described his mood.

"And you, Miss?" the waiter asked, turning his attention to Stella.

She looked up from her menu at Sarik, a questioning look on her face. Either she didn't know what he meant, or she didn't know what was appropriate for the occasion.

"She'll take a water," Sarik answered for her.

"And are you prepared to order, sir?" the waiter asked as he jotted down Sarik's and Stella's orders.

"I think we'll need a few more moments," Sarik courtesied.

"Very well," the waiter complied. "We'll have your drinks prepared immediately."

As the man left, Sarik shook his head internally. It was just a couple glasses of water. It wasn't like he'd ordered some expensive mixture of alcohol. Why the need for the drama?

Sarik stared out at the ocean for a moment as he thought. This day was probably going to be last time he'd get a chance to relax for a while. The way things were going, all-out war on the Earth was a possible reality, and SSI, along with every other major conglomerate on the planet, would be effected.

Sarik snapped out of his thoughts as the waiter set a glass before him, filled to the brim with water and lemon slices. Sarik reached over and took a sip, cringing slightly at the taste. This particular piece of fruit was exceptionally sour.

"Are you ready to order?" the waiter inquired after placng Stella's beverage before her.

Sarik thought for a few seconds. He might as well just order something.

"I'll take the seasoned salmon steak on a bed of wild rice," Sarik answered before he could change his mind. Something he knew he would eat.

The man jotted down his order.

"And you, ma'am?" he asked, turning to Stella.

She pursed her lips in concentration, then pointed at something on the menu. The waiter had to lean over in order to see what she was gesturing at.

"Very well," he complied, writing the order down on his pad. "We'll have your luncheon out as soon as it's ready."

As the man gathered up the menus, Stella turned her attention out towards the ocean. Sarik noticed that a faint smile slowly formed on her face as the minutes passed.

"What are you thinking about?" Sarik asked with interest.

"It's...beautiful," Stella remarked, still staring out at the ocean.

Sarik looked off in the direction that she was staring at, trying to figure out what she was talking about. There was nothing there except the ocean.

"The ocean?" he questioned.

Stella didn't seem to hear him, transfixed by what she saw.

Sarik smirked as he watched with her, having nothing better to do. It truly was amazing, now that he thought about it. The way the waves made their way to the beach, calmly lapping at its edges. The way the light shone off of the surface, bombarding his vision with varying shades of blue and gray. And most of all, the awe that struck him as he looked towards the horizon, the deep waters seeming to go on forever.

Perhaps this was also what she saw. Perhaps this was why the ocean hypnotized Stella so much.

After a few moments, Sarik decided to break away from the trance. As peaceful as it was, he wanted to learn more about Stella. By understanding her better, he would not only be making progress to restoring their relationship, but he might have a better understanding of how the Earth Forces raised and treated their Extendeds once they drafted them into the military.

"So, is there anything that you enjoy doing?" Sarik questioned abruptly.

Stella continued to stare out at the ocean, her concentration unbroken.

"Stella," Sarik said with some force.

She snapped back to reality, turning her head to face him.

"Is there anything that you enjoy doing?" he repeated, using the same tone as he had the first time.

Stella stared at him for a moment, as if she didn't quite understand the question.

"Fighting?" she replied quietly a moment later, as if unsure it was the right answer.

Sarik rested his head in the palm of his hand, his arm leaning against the table. That was not the answer he was looking for, but he would work with it nonetheless.

"Fighting, huh?" he remarked. "What part about it?"

Stella glanced down at the table for a few seconds, then returned to watching the ocean. Either she was avoiding the question, or she truly didn't have a more detailed answer.

Sarik sighed out loud as he thought, catching Stella's attention. He had hoped to keep her away from war, to shelter her from what she had already been exposed to. But apparently, her masters had ingrained war into her very being. What did she do for pastime? Fly combat scenarios in a flight simulator? What kind of education did she receive? Obviously, an understanding of complicated mathematics was needed in order to fly a mobile weapon, or modify an OS, or to repair a damaged machine.

What was she now? Part of him wanted to think she was still that loyal friend from eleven years ago, but he knew that couldn't be. She might have some shred of kindness from that time left in her, she might look just as innocent, but if she was truly the former pilot of the Destroy, then underneath all of that there was a merciless soldier. And he wondered if while he attempted to reason with it, whether or not she would snap and turn on him.

As he brooded, Sarik realized Stella was watching him intently. She was obviously wondering about something, but her lack of words made it hard to understand about what. She was obviously still a quiet person.

"What?" Sarik asked as he snapped out of his thoughts, peering up with his eyes.

Stella looked like she was about to say something, but held her tongue and snapped her head back towards the ocean.

Sarik sighed internally. He wondered if she was this shy with everyone, or just people that she didn't quite yet trust. It was most definitely going to be a barrier.

As he thought, Sarik realized that there was one question in the back of his mind nagging at him. Was Stella conscious of the things that she did? Was it like when they had first started, where it seemed as if an entirely different being inhabited their bodies? Or was she like he was now, every one of his actions a deliberate and conscious decision?

"Do you remember what happened a few days ago?" Sarik questioned Stella softly, sitting up in his chair.

Her gaze retreated from the ocean, settling on the portion of the table directly in front of her.

"You...helped me," Stella told him, her eyes tensing as she remembered.

Sarik stared at her, hoping she would make eye contact. He needed to know the truth in her words.

"Do you remember anything in detail?" Sarik asked.

Over the next ten minutes, Stella recounted everything the best she could, all in relatively few words. Sarik took note that there seemed to be gaps in her memory. It wasn't that she didn't remember the entire incident, just that parts of it seemed to slip her mind, as if it were something insignificant. The fights to her were like remembering what meals one ate a few days earlier.

"Do you know what you are doing whenever you fight?" Sarik asked her after ensuring no one was around to eavesdrop.

"Completing my mission," Stella responded.

"Do you know what happens to those people that you hurt?" Sarik questioned coldly.

Stella simply looked up at him with a confused stare.

So that was it. That's how they did it. They conditioned these Extendeds to the point that they didn't have a clue what they were doing. Killing was a day job, something casual.

"Every time you kill a person, Stella, they die," Sarik told her calmly. "Don't you realize that?"

He didn't have to wait long before he got a reaction totally unexpected.

Stella's eyes went wide, and she began forcing herself backwards into her chair, as if trying to get as far away from Sarik as she could. She began mumbling a series of unintelligible words until Sarik managed to make some of them out.

"I don't want to die!" Stella yelled, her calm breaking.

Sarik jumped out of his seat, quickly surveying his surroundings. There was no one nearby.

"Stella, what's wrong?" he asked. Why was she acting like this?

She continued her fit, pushing into the chair so hard that the underside of her arms became raw and started to bleed.

"What's wrong Stella?!" Sarik questioned with a raised voice as he ran around towards her.

"I don't want to die!" she said, flailing out at him, trying to force him away.

This couldn't go on any longer. Someone would notice.

"No one is going to die!" Sarik yelled at her, grabbing her hands. But she continued to flail, trying to get away from him. However, he noticed her flailing was not nearly as strong as it should be. As if her ability to fight was suppressed. A block word?! He'd fought her in hand-to-hand combat, and knew her strength and tenacity. Only a block word could restrain her like this, and this quickly.

But he had yet to encounter an Extended with one. Was she that much of a threat? That powerful when in her prime?

"Stella, clam down," Sarik told her soothingly as he pulled her into a hug, despite the fact she was still trying to resist him. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry I scared you. Please calm down."

Sarik noticed that she began to calm, and she eventually collapsed into him and started crying. Sarik held her for a moment while he decided what to do. That was stupid of him. This entire trip was stupid of him.

"Come on," he told Stella, putting one of his arms protectively around her shoulders. "Let's go home."

* * *

Amelia watched from her perch as the car Sarik had borrowed from one of the security teams pulled into the parking garage. She took special notice of the girl, who was leaning into his side like he was her lover or husband.

Amelia felt a twinge of jealousy flow through her as he lifted the small girl out of the car and held her close as they walked into the facility.  
_  
"If I had a sister, I would hope she was Stella," _Sarik had remarked.

Amelia allowed rage to flow through her as she thought on those words. That was a load of shit. This wasn't how you treated a sibling, the only thing between your bodies a thin set of clothing.

_What is wrong with _me_?_ Amelia wondered. She was the same age as that girl, she had known Sarik for many more years, and for a brief time, he used the words "I love you" with her. Then, something happened, and he only wanted to be friends from then on. Had he known about this girl, somehow? Was he willing to throw away years of friendship for her?

Amelia felt a small tear slither down her face. She wiped it away, then left her hiding place. There were things that needed to be done, and they wouldn't happen if she stood there brooding all day.


	21. Chapter 20

**CE 65**

Sarik continued typing on his computer, despite the fact that the cellular phone on his desk continued to beep in a most repetitive and annoying fashion. In this instance, it was acting as a pager, probably one of his parents attempting to inform him that dinner was ready. Apparently, it was too much of an inconvenience for one of them to make the short walk to the other end of the estate to tell him personally.

Sarik continued to look over the information in front of him, assimilating the article as it quickly scrolled down the screen. The data before him was a presentation of the official police report and subsequent investigations regarding the assassination of George Glenn, the first of all Coordinators.

This man, though with good intentions, had begun all of this, hadn't he? If he had simply remained silent for a decade or two longer about the circumstances of his birth, perhaps the entire world would be different, its inhabitants more open minded. But instead, he had to simultaneously inform the entirety of Earth about what he truly was, and his blunt views on the implications of such. As a result, organizations such as Blue Cosmos now reigned unchecked in their subtle race war, which was quickly gaining popular support.

Sarik abruptly ended his typing as his right arm cramped up. This happened often. In fact, it seemed that he was always in pain somewhere. If it wasn't an arm, it was a leg, or his chest, or his head. The doctor had told him that it had something to do with deficiencies in the maintenance process, and that it might be years before all of the bugs were weeded out.

When the pain did not subside, Sarik reached over to a small case that set on his desk next to the computer. He popped the cover off, revealing four extremely small syringes, each filled with practically a drop of pain medication. It seemed that every time he used them, his body grew more resistant to the effects of whatever particular drug was being used. All but this latest treatment, an ancient remedy commonly known as "morphine". According to Walters, this was most likely because the fluid was derived from completely natural sources, rather than purely synthetic compounds.

Sarik let out a sigh as he pressed the tiny autodermical to his arm, the morphine's effect noticeable almost immediately. He was about to return back to skimming over the report when time seemed to slow in a peaceful kind of way.

Sarik stared distantly at the computer screen for a moment, remembering Sarah, and everything that she had done for him. It seemed that, for the past year, she had spent more time with him than either of his parents put together. In fact, she was the one who had helped him procure the parts for this computer, and was even kind enough to assist him in the assembly. Afterwards, she had helped him to learn how to modify the operating system, the entire reason for constructing it, as every prior machine they had tested proved to have an agonizingly slow processing speed for Sarik.

As the initial high passed, he pondered over what had happened a year ago, his reawakening. The anniversary for that was coming up soon, wasn't it? He would have to find something to give to Sarah, something nice. He had been anything but cooperative for the next few months afterwards, mostly due to what Doctor Walters had explained to be a massive imbalance of hormones, even exceeding the effects of diseases such as the now-extinct Bipolar disorder. As the man tweaked the maintenance settings over time, everything progressively improved, though Sarik still occasionally had violent streaks.

Sarik felt tears begin to form in his eyes as he thought about that day, though he quickly quelled them. He had done and said things to Sarah that he continued to regret in the fullest, even after all of this time. Sarik owed her so much, much more than even that man who called himself his father. What saddened him the most was that he had meant every word and blow. He WANTED to hurt her as much as he had, and then some. Even now, a small part of him still believed every bit of it.

Sarik stirred as he heard footsteps echo up the hallway. From the fashion that this person walked in, he figured that it was someone Sarah's size. Sarik waved his hand over the computer's flat monitor, causing it to slide down into the desk and shut down.

"Sarik?" called Sarah's voice after a pair of knocks. "Your parents would like you to join them for dinner."

"Coming," the child replied dryly. Another fun night at the dinner table. What was his father going to spring on him next?

* * *

Sarik poked boredly at his remaining food, already full. It seemed that even when his parents requested his presence, they practically ignored him. At least by eating in his room he could get something done.

"Sarik, did you hear me?" the boy's father asked.

"No," Sarik replied honestly in a blunt tone as he glanced up from his food.

"Your mother and I were just speaking about your education," the middle-aged man informed him.

"Yes?" Sarik acknowledged, sitting erect in his seat.

"Well, your mother and I recently toured a boarding school in Berlin that we thought you might enjoy in the fall," Derick informed his child. "It's one of the most prestigious institutions in Eurasia, and they have a number of classes that I would think you could find useful. Advanced mathematics, computer construction and programming, and even basic engineering courses. Even you should find their curriculum challenging."

"I didn't realize that I was doing so bad here," Sarik remarked.

"You're not," his mother complimented. "You've completed in the past year what would take a normal child three years. That's what we're worried about. Perhaps you have too much time on your hands? We think it would do you well to get out for a while, see places, meet people."

"Not to mention how well it would look on your resume for college," Derick informed. "Ninety percent of the children who graduate from that school are accepted into the world's best universities."

"And they're all Naturals, right?" Sarik questioned rhetorically.

"Yes," his father answered.

"Then we already have a problem," Sarik informed. "I wouldn't fit in. I can't pose as one of them."

"I have already taken care of that," Derick told him. "As of today, you are officially a Coordinator."

"So now you're looking to kill me?" Sarik questioned, his voice rising slightly in hysteria.

"Sarik!" Laura scolded.

"Have neither of you heard of Blue Cosmos?" Sarik inquired.

"They're an organization of insignificant fanatics," Derick remarked. "They won't last much longer."

"In the past year, Blue Cosmos has been linked to several hundred Coordinator's deaths," Sarik quoted drably. "Their leadership now consists of some of the world's most influential politicians, and their membership has nearly doubled in the past few years. How do you know they won't be waiting for me at this school's front gates when I arrive?"

"Sarik, you are going to this school," Derick told him adamantly. "It's already been decided."

"I see," Sarik said in contempt. "May I be excused from the table, please?"

"You may," Laura got in before Derick said something else, shaking her head.

Sarik practically jumped out of his seat and walked briskly towards the dining room's exit.

* * *

Sarah was returning to her room from her private meal as Sarik rushed past her, brushing her slightly before he ran up the stairs. From the way the boy held himself, Sarah could tell something was wrong. He was almost always fanatically alert. Now, he seemed distant, distracted as he stared at the ground.

"Sarik?" Sarah said, trying to catch his attention. "Sarik!"

But he continued his advance, either having not heard her or ignoring her call. Sarah darted up the stairs after him, hoping to catch up before he arrived at his room.

But the sudden sound of a door slamming shut caused Sarah to slow. She was a bit late in that respect, so she advanced more slowly, hoping Sarik would settle down during the delay.

"Sarik, can I come in?" Sarah asked as she stopped in front of his room. There was no response, but she could hear furious typing on the other side. She knocked loudly. "Sarik!"

"You can come in," Sarik's emotionless voice informed her.

Sarah turned the knob, surprised that the door was unlocked. As she stepped inside of Sarik's room, she realized that he was once more at his desk, the back of his over-sized office chair blocking any view of his body. However, the typing continued, and Sarik seemed to pay no heed to her.

"What are you doing?" Sarah questioned considerately as she walked up beside Sarik, now able to see his computer's screen. He appeared to be in some sort of command prompt, text streaming down at a rate that she found to be too fast for her to put together any one sentence.

"I'm going over my logs," the ten-year old replied.

"Of what?" Sarah inquired. She took note that Sarik's eyes had an almost fanatic gleam to them, and his normally graceful motions were jerky and agitated.

"I've been recording my daily actions and interactions onto my computer since we finished building it," Sarik replied almost machine-like. "I'm trying to figure out which aspects of my behavior have proved to be inadequate."

"Inadequate?" Sarah asked in a disgusted tone.

"I had to have done something wrong, because my parents wish to send me to a boarding school in Berlin," Sarik informed her. "It must have been some time in the past few weeks, because they have displayed no apparent form of displeasure until just now. In fact, even tonight seems to be an anomaly..."

Sarah stared at the computer screen, finally making sense of isolated passages. But everything was still scrolling by so fast that a date change was evident roughly every fifteen seconds.

"Why don't you take a break?" Sarah suggested a few minutes later as Sarik progressively backtracked to a point a few months earlier.

"That's not an option," Sarik responded irritably. "I have to discover where I was in error."

"This isn't healthy," Sarah informed him. "You need to settle down and think this through."

"I AM calm," Sarik assured her, though his tone seemed a bit dry, and his typing grew erratic. The child let out a growl of frustration as he mistyped a command, and the screen returned to the desktop image.

Sarah sighed, then reached over and held in the computer's power button just before Sarik began again.

"Why did you do that?!" they boy snapped angrily.

"You need to stop!" Sarah told him without raising her voice. "You're not going to do anything but add to your frustration by going over these pointless recordings of your life."

"Then let me be frustrated!" Sarik retorted as his hand darted towards the computer.

Sarah, no longer willing to tolerate the child's belligerent behavior any longer, smacked Sarik's hand away with a blow that slammed it into the desk.

"Why are you acting like this towards me?" Sarah asked in a hurt tone. "I haven't done anything to you. I'm just trying to figure out what's wrong."

Sarik glared at her angrily, and Sarah realized that he was analyzing her as he did. The young woman took a step back and tensed every muscle in her body in preparation for a fight.

"Why do you care?" Sarik said coldly as he slowly rotated his chair towards her. "You're just their lackey, aren't you? That's all you've ever been, isn't it?"

Sarah held her ground, keeping her face straight but stern. He was trying to goad her. She wouldn't give in.

"Are my words so right that you can't respond?" Sarik asked as he slowly rose from his chair. "Stunned by the truth?"

Sarah took another step back as he moved towards her menacingly.

"Do you fear me?" Sarik questioned arrogantly as he stepped even closer. "Because the way you're acting, that's exactly what you're showing."

"You need to stop right now and calm down," Sarah warned Sarik.

"Or what?" he taunted, smiling like a brat.

Sarah suddenly realized that he was far closer to her than she had previously estimated. Somehow, he had moved within a fraction of a meter of her without her noticing it.

"Everything is going to be fine if you will just settle down and think this through," Sarah told him. "I'll always be here to help you if you need it."

Sarik's face grew sour, and suddenly, he leaped at her. Sarah threw her arms out to defend herself, but by the time she was able to react, Sarik was already between them. He smashed into her with his entire body's weight, and the woman fell to the floor, landing painfully on her back. Sarah brought her hands up to defend her face, but soon realized that Sarik had fallen into her chest and was crying.

"Sarik?" Sarah asked, confused.

Sarik continued to cry, either ignoring her or unable to hear. She cradled his head for a moment, but quickly realized how HEAVY he was getting to be. He was literally crushing her.

"Sarik?" she said. "I can't breathe."

Sarik's fit ended, and he rolled off of her onto the carpet floor. He lay there for a moment on his back as his tears slowly stopped streaming, and he regained his composure.

"Sorry," Sarik apologized, staring at the ceiling.

"About what?" Sarah questioned, rolling onto her side to face him.

"What I said," he told her. "Everything. I shouldn't have."

"It's fine," Sarah assured him.

"No, it's not," Sarik corrected bluntly. "I have more control than this. I shouldn't have presented myself like that now, not then..."

"Then?" Sarah inquired.

"A year ago," Sarik informed her after a few seconds silence. "I was taking out on you what was meant for someone else."

Sarah stared at him for a moment, truly amazed. She had a hard time comprehending all of this, as before her was a boy physically ten years old, albeit a bit large for that age. But the words that were leaving his mouth...she wouldn't have expected them from most adults, much less him. He really was someone special. There was so much potential, so much strength trapped inside of him, yet he was unwilling or unable to use it. And of course, in the world that they lived in now, he would face persecution and death if he displayed who he was openly, as he should be able to.

"What's bothering you?" Sarah asked considerately. "You haven't acted like this in a while."

Sarik rolled his head to the right, away from her.

"My parents don't want me around anymore," he responded emotionlessly.

"What makes you think that?" Sarah questioned, unconvinced.

"My 'father' wants to send me to some school in Berlin," Sarik informed her. "My grades are more than adequate, so I assume it's something I did at one point or the other. And of course, Mother remains silent, like always."

"That's not fair to her," Sarah told him. "She's done a lot for you."

"Like what?" the boy inquired, raising his voice slightly.

"Well, for one, she kept me around," Sarah reminded Sarik.

"Perhaps..." Sarik agreed in a detached manner, though quickly snapping out of it. "Thank you."

"You're welcome," Sarah replied, starting to reach out to touch him, but stopping herself. It wasn't her place.

"Why did you stay?" Sarik prodded quietly a few minutes later, rolling onto his other side in order to face Sarah.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"Why did you stay?" Sarik repeated. "After I was safe, there was no logical reason for you to stay."

Sarah smiled.

"Not everything can be explained with logic," the black-haired woman replied. "I care for you a great deal, just like I came to care for everyone else."

Sarik averted his gaze to the floor, and Sarah cringed internally. He did this whenever anyone spoke about them and then. She had seen the tapes of what had happened since she left, and realized that to have to live with all of that must be agonizing. He wasn't even a teenager, and already living life was a hell for the boy. Older men had gone mad trying to live with the memories of having done such things, no matter the reason.

"What does it mean to 'care'?" Sarik questioned. "It seems to be something I've had a hard time understanding lately."

Sarah stared at him for a moment, trying to come up with the best words for the matter. It was a difficult topic. True, one could give the denotative meaning of the word, but that didn't really explain what caring was. In reality, it was something that probably couldn't be properly explained with words.

"Do you mind if we talk about then?" Sarah asked softly.

"If we must," Sarik responded edgily, returning his gaze to Sarah.

"Do you remember Stella?" she inquired rhetorically.

"No, the picture on my desk belongs to a stranger," Sarik responded sarcastically in an attempt to hide his anguish. Whatever mask that he attempted to place on his voice, however, was instantly defeated by his facial expressions.

"Do you remember when you were nice to her?" Sarah asked. "Especially later on?"

"Yes," Sarik replied.

"Well, by doing those nice things that you did for her, you were showing that you cared about her," Sarah informed him.

"Then why haven't I been able to do that since?" Sarik questioned. "Feel that way?"

Sarah stared at him for a moment in concern. That really was something she'd worried about. Everything would often fix itself in time, but not being able to care would definitely stunt one's ability to get along with others.

"Is it that you can't, or that you just don't want to?" Sarah inquired.

"I...don't know," Sarik answered, his voice indicating that he came to a realization of something.

"Maybe we just need to get you out of here," Sarah suggested. "Meet some people. Like you."

"Maybe," Sarik agreed in an unsure tone. Suddenly, his face softened, and his entire body relaxed. The boy quickly jumped onto his feet and ran to his computer.

"Sarah, do you think you could help me with something?" he asked as he waved his hand over the computer screen, causing it to extend upwards.

"With what?" Sarah inquired, beginning to stand.

"I think I'll need some new computer parts," he informed her. "Several."

"For what?" Sarah questioned. "We just got those a few months ago."

"You'll see," Sarik told her. "Please? I promise you won't be disappointed."

* * *

"Mister Ostheim, Sarik would like you to come see him about something," Sarah wearily informed the man as he was about to leave the estate for his temporary office in a nearby town. From the looks of it, the woman appeared to not have obtained much sleep last night.

"Is your attention not adequate?" the middle-aged man questioned irritably. He wasn't in the mood today, as he had been informed after dinner the evening before that a mole had been discovered in the company, under the employ of William. This had to be dealt with thoroughly, to determine how much that his son knew.

"I really think you should see this," Sarah told him. "I don't think you'll be disappointed."

Derick sighed. He might as well. Sarik wouldn't be around for much longer.

"Please show me," he complied.

A moment later, Sarah was knocking on Sarik's door, Derick standing impatiently behind her.

"Are you ready?" she courtesied.

"Just a second," Sarik's voice replied. It was far more optimistic than Derick had ever heard in the past two years. Perhaps even giddy. "You can come in now."

"What the...!" Derick nearly cursed as he walked in behind Sarah. Normally, he had far more composure than to want to use such language, but the mess that littered Sarik's room was astounding. Several computer monitors lay around, perched on his desk and the room's floor; stacks of networked hard drives set scattered along the room's back wall; and at least four massive computer towers rested near where Sarik sat on the floor. How did they get all of this here? It must have taken them the entire evening, because the only place that had all of this was HIS office. "What is the meaning of this, Sarah?"

"So you don't want to see what I have for you?" Sarik asked in an innocent manner more acceptable of his age. "I found it just for you."

"What?" Derick questioned irritably. What could this child have found or made in this mess that was even remotely worth his attention?

"Look," Sarik suggested, rotating one of the monitors so that his father could see.

Derick crouched down before it, already forming a response in his mind. Not only was this wastefulness of equipment and money unacceptable, but to bother him with something so trivial...

"Oh my god," Derick said under his breath as he glanced over the screen, for it was dominated with the emblem of Blue Cosmos. "Sarik, disconnect this immediately!"

"Don't worry," Sarik assured. "If anyone managed to catch my intrusion, they would have found me to be an accountant in the Oceanic Union, and after that, a Colonel in the Atlantic Federation Military, and after that, nearly one thousand other individuals. I ensured that we were safe before I attempted anything."

"Sarik, do you realize what you've done?!" Derick yelled as he bolted upwards, searching for the power and data transfer cables. He had to make sure everything was disconnected, and quickly.

"Why, I have produced a gift of knowledge for you," Sarik informed his father poetically. "Downloaded and compressed here is a copy of the entirety of a Blue Cosmos mainframe."

"Don't you realize who they are?" Derick inquired. "Are you so desperate to become their slave again? Or dead?"

"Father, I took every precaution physically possible," Sarik remarked arrogantly. "They have yet to realize that they were infiltrated, and they never will. This is a COPY. I am not connected to their server, and have blocked all access routes to the Internet for this estate, just to be safe."

Derick calmed himself, glancing over the stacks of hard drives. If each individual component held several hundred terabytes, then what Sarik said might have some merit.

"In fact, I think you will be pleased to learn that I've located a Blue Cosmos front office just a few blocks away from your own," Sarik told him.

"I do highly doubt that," Derick remarked. "Allow my technicians to go over any data that you obtained, and we will see."

"Well, you see, we have a problem there," Sarik said, and began typing furiously. "I'm not just going to hand this over to you until we get a couple things settled."

Derick scowled and began walking towards the child, but soon stopped as Sarik held his finger menacingly over the 'ENTER' button on his keyboard.

"I have now programmed a time-release virus into the entirety of this network," Sarik informed. "If I hit this key, every device in this room will erase all forms of storage medium five times over, then overload, destroying all essential components. In addition, if I fail to input a series of passwords every eighteen hours, the data will erase itself and overload any device on which it is stored. And I assure you, you will not be able to crack them, as they're constantly changing in a pattern that no normal Natural could understand."

"Sarik?!" Sarah yelled in a hurt tone. "What is this?"

"Oh, don't get me wrong, Sarah, I am most grateful," Sarik told her. "A thousand thank yous would not be able to fully express my gratitude, nor would a thousand apologies express my sorrow for using you like this. But there are things that need to be dealt with now, and you know as well as I do that Derick Ostheim listens to no one without proper 'motivation'."

Derick smiled.

"What makes you think I have need of this information?" Derick goaded, slowly advancing on Sarik. "What if I told you that you can keep your 'gift', and then simply walked out of that door without another thought?"

"Because I have located William, along with a number of his newly constructed conditioning facilities," Sarik informed his father smugly. "With everything here, you would be able to destroy his work and cause him to surface."

Derick froze. If this was true, then he could not afford to pass up this opportunity, and Sarik knew this. William had brought shame to this family with his actions. He would be stopped, along with his abominations. The world didn't need anymore Sariks, if the child before him was any evidence of what those children would become.

"Show me a sample of your so called 'findings'," Derick agreed. "If I feel what you have is valid, then you may have what you wish, within reason."

"I'm glad we've finally come to an understanding," Sarik remarked with a smile.

* * *

Sarik stepped off the APC after Sarah, the wind causing rust-brown dust to float off of the concrete below him and settle on his flak vest. The carnage around him was so familiar: bodies of children, doctors, and guards strewn about like rocks in the desert on which this facility was constructed; the barely recognizable skeletons of trucks and tanks lying about in seemingly random patterns; and the occasional sound of gunfire in the distance. It was just like last time, but much worse, as the base had been caught completely by surprise. More of a massacre than a battle.

This was one of three things that Sarik had procured from his father. The man would begin limited operations against Blue Cosmos, for which Sarik knew he had already been planning for months. He simply lacked anything in the way of reliable intelligence. Sarik's first requirement was to able to choose the first target. He had chosen this particular facility because the mainframe had indicated that someone matching Stella's description was being held here. Further prodding confirmed this with the surname "Loussier". Sarik hoped to be able to bring her back, and without either of his parents knowing, initially at least. That was why another part of this portion of the deal was that he be able to visit the site with only Sarah as his chaperon.

Sarik strolled silently ahead of his most patient mentor, though even he felt that he was being particularly bold, as he was completely unarmed. He couldn't shake the sense of vulnerability, even though there seemed to be a weapon lying within a couple meters reach in whatever direction that he turned. It was just something he would have to get over.

Sarah followed the young child silently, though the air about her was tense and angry. However, Sarik knew that she would allow him to do as he wished, so long as danger did not present itself. He felt that part of her wanted something like this, albeit in a form where such blatant displays of violence weren't involved.

As Sarik continued towards the facility, a sense of reverence and sorrow fell over him as he passed by the remnants of one of the many skirmishes that had occurred this day. A young brown-haired girl, probably about his age, lay on her back in the thick dust, the ground caking from her blood. Sarik could invision what had happened after observing the adult bodies that lay unmoving several meters away. Some of the doctors and guards had attempted to use her as a hostage when several mercenaries began to surround them. The girl, taking advantage of her captor's lack of attention on her, had broken free from their grasp and made a run for it. The mercenaries and guards opened fire on each other almost simultaneously, creating a deadly crossfire. All of the guards and doctors fell to the ground along with two of the mercenaries, but not before one of the guards made his last stand, unleashing his rifle's entire magazine in a poorly aimed spray from his dying position on the ground. However, one of the bullets caught the girl in the back just as she made it past the line of mercenaries, cutting through her chest as the surviving soldiers riddled the dying man with the last of their bullets. The girl fell to her knees, then onto her stomach, and began to crawl forward in a desperate bid for survival, the mercenaries either ignoring her, or having not realized her presence in the heat of battle. She would roll onto her back as the pain became unbearable, and eventually bleed to death.

Sarik stood still and looked away from the girl, as her sapphire blue eyes remained open in the most pained, sad expression. Sarah bent down before the child and slid her hand over her face, forcing her eyelids shut, and softening her features. As the woman stood once more, Sarik continued his advance on the facility.

Sarik strolled in through the front entrance, where a most savage battle had taken place. Mercenaries lay dead and wounded all about, their more able comrades providing first aid, or attempting to move those in better condition back to the convoy of vehicles. Sarik walked among them, cold and indifferent to the yells of pain and the thick stench of death. These men had done the job with which they were assigned. Their thanks would be found in their salaries or the pension checks to their next of kin.

Sarik continued deeper into the facility through what should have been a confusing maze of corridors. But they were not for him, as he had been here once before. This facility was an almost perfect duplicate of the one located on that small island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. He knew where he was going.

As approached a most familiar office space, Sarik slowed to a halt and recomposed himself, straightening his back and raising his chin as his father would. This was where he had lost Stella. Perhaps he could eventually find forgiveness for his weakness in this same place.

"Sarah, have we heard anything from the first team?" Sarik questioned. "Have they found Stella yet?"

"No," Sarah replied. "The labs were empty except for a few guards and doctors. I think they moved her just before we got here."

Sarik felt a minuscule tear drizzle down his cheek, quickly evaporating into the dry air. For some reason, he had known it the moment they began this operation. The nightmare was right, again. He knew he would fail to rescue her, yet he still went through with everything that he had a week ago, practically alienating himself from his father. All he wanted to do was to bring her home with him, save her from William. Now, he didn't know what to do.

Sarik cringed as another, nearly unnoticeable tear made contact with his nose. At least he was getting better at controlling those. Crying was for children, something that he wished to remain for as short a time as possible.

Sarik snapped to when he heard something almost unnoticeable quiet, like the strained breathing of a fearful individual in hiding. He ran between the office's furnishings, finally locating the source of the sound. Just underneath one of the desk's edge were two young girls. Both had dark, crimson red hair and brown eyes, or he assumed so, because both shared an identical physical appearance. Twins.

Sarik's body tensed up when he realized what was wrong. One was laying on the ground, unmoving but for her breath, a gunshot wound through her stomach, while the other was knelt down beside her crying her heart out. Or at least, she was, before Sarik arrived. Now she stared up at him, her eyes innocent, pleading, and yet, somehow still defiant. These girls weren't soldiers, not by a long shot. Why were they here? They had no place among these children.

"Sarah!" the boy cried as he fell to his knees and crawled underneath the desk. He began reaching over to the injured girl, but suddenly, the other snapped, tackling Sarik out from under the desk and pinning him to the ground.

Sarik brought his hands up as the girl brought her fist down towards his face, catching the full force of the blow in his palm. The pain jarred up his arm, but Sarik grabbed onto her hand and held it like a vice. As she tried to pull back, Sarik realized that he was significantly stronger than her, even though she most likely had the more advance alterations. He brought up his other hand and grabbed her free arm as she began to struggle, then pulled her close to his body in an attempt to restrain her movements.

"Sarik!" Sarah exclaimed as she caught up with him in the seconds during which the fight took place.

"I've got her!" Sarik assured Sarah. "Make sure the other one lives!"

Sarah glanced around the floor, soon spotting the wounded child and practically diving towards her as she grabbed her radio from a pocket on the front of her body armor.

"This is Raahl!" Sarah yelled desperately into the device as she began to pull away the bloodied clothes that stuck to the girl's stomach. "We have an injured child! Trace this radio's signal and get us a medical team immediately!"

Sarik held onto the girl as her struggles grew weaker, and her crying stronger. Soon, Sarik released her, realizing that she was no longer a threat, as she now realized that he was no longer a threat.

But as he attempted to back away from her, Sarik realized that the redhead was gripping his vest and crying into it. He felt so much like joining her, but he had to remain strong. He couldn't be weak anymore. Sarik subtly grabbed the girl's hands and broke her grip on him as he knelt down onto one knee.

"Stop crying," Sarik told her confidently. "She's going to be all right."

The girl slowly let herself fall to the floor and continued crying as she braced her back against another desk. For the first time, Sarik realized how truly young she had to be. Despite her well above average size, she couldn't be anymore than seven. After mentally giving the poor child his condolences, he crawled over to where Sarah was attending to the other girl.

"Do not let her die," Sarik said quiet but sternly as their eyes made contact, their cold disposition indicating that this was an order, not encouragement.


	22. Chapter 21

**CE 74**

"As you can see, we have adapted the ZAKU Zeros' equipment configurations to best fit you and your sister's individual fighting styles," Sarik informed. "The Phase Shift Armor, coupled with the near unlimited power supply provided by the nuclear reactors aboard, would ensure your safety while piloting these machines."

Reia glanced over the datapad as the mobile suits' data scrolled down the screen, presenting reactor capabilities, weapon statistics, and system outputs. The redhead's brown eyes grew dark as she looked over the information, as if something Sarik had done insulted her.

"And I assume that you would want us to pilot these things sometime in the foreseeable future?" Reia questioned irritably.

"Possibly within a week," Sarik replied, no emotion coloring his voice.

"Why did you come to us?" the fifteen year old girl asked, her voice most efficiently projecting anger, something that Sarik hadn't ruled out as a possible reaction. Other than during their relatively undocumented time in the Blue Cosmos conditioning facilities, the girls hadn't been in very many life and death situations, none of those actually resulting in the latter for anyone. Now, he was asking them to throw away the sense of security that they had been allowed to follow him onto a potential battlefield, if such a time ever came.

Though in his mind, it wasn't if, but when. Sarik and everyone he knew were in the middle of so much, conflict seemed inevitable.

"Because you and your sister are among our best pilots," Sarik told her. "And because you two are some the few people I trust."

Reia glanced back at her sister, who stood a few centimeters behind her. But her sibling's stance wasn't like that of a guard. It never was. Ballari, or Ari, as she often went by, generally didn't interact with others, and was not often one to step up and publicly do _anything_. Reia spoke for the both of them most of the time. The girl had been this way for as long as Sarik could remember, always content to follow her sister wherever she lead. Having a near death experience at the young age of seven or eight could scar a person. Sarik knew this from experience, though he had ended up on the extreme opposite of that spectrum.

"How long have we known each other?" Reia inquired after a moment of thought.

"Almost nine years, now," Sarik answered.

"And in those nine years, you've been one of the few people that Ari speaks to," Reia stated. "She trusts that you'll protect her like you promised. How do you intend to do this if we're piloting mobile suits in the heat of a battle?"

Sarik sighed as he scratched the back of his head. When he was younger, he had a tendency to occasionally let his emotions control his actions. He had made several promises and agreements then that were becoming increasingly more difficult to keep as time went by, his age and general responsibilities growing larger in number by the year. This was one such promise. But given the current circumstances, he needed their help. He needed everyone's help.

"I wouldn't ask this of you if I thought that you two had so little as a _poor_ chance of survival," Sarik informed Reia softly. "You two are our best, and better yet, you started this up on your own. The other day, your instructor was telling me how yours and your sister's piloting skills nearly surpassed his own."

"You're just saying that," Reia remarked.

"Um...I heard him say that too," Ari informed her sister quietly. Not only was Ari's manner of speech more timid than her sister's, but her voice generally came across a couple pitches higher, though Sarik had to admit, the sound was anything but annoying. Refreshing during the worst of days, and something to smile about on the good days. And by no means did it make her sound any younger than she was. Had he only known her by her voice, Sarik would have envisioned a motherly figure every time he heard it.

"All right, but still," Reia insisted. "There have to be better pilots than us for this."

"There may be, but I doubt any of them could pilot machines like these, only being Naturals," Sarik informed. "These ZAKUs were rebuilt to allow both of you to push your abilities without straining them or yourselves to the point of failure."

"We don't care about any of that!" Reia almost yelled. "We're fine right now. We don't NEED to push ourselves in anything."

"I don't want you flying with an attitude like that," Sarik stated. "You don't have to pilot these. I was just hoping you two would. As a favor. To a friend."

"I think we'll have to pass," Reia informed him with contempt, at which Sarik sighed.

"Well, thank you for at least talking," Sarik told her with some unintentional emotion in his voice. "I really do appreciate it."

Sarik glanced at Ari one last time before turning about to leave the room. It amused him to see how different the sisters had become over time. Reia was so forward, so impulsive, and projected the arrogance and confidence of royalty, which could sometimes scare people off, the girl only being fifteen. Ari, on the other hand, was more timid, somewhat conservative, and a bit more comfortable to be around, her presence more like that of someone her actual age, an attribute rarely found in an individual after having survived through the harsh upbringing of an Extended. Though by no means did Sarik allow that to cause him to underestimate her. She HAD survived that upbringing, hinting at a buried but strong resolve.

Their differences were even noticeable in the way they physically presented themselves. Reia was always in the lead, standing tall, and sometimes even a little puffed up, while Ari would always follow a half-meter or so behind her, generally unnoticed as she inconspicuously hid inside of her sister's presence. Even their hair was different, Reia's hanging slight past her shoulders and often tied up behind her head, while Ari's was much longer, resting halfway down her back and often left to flow freely through the air. Though they were identical twins, there was no mistaking one for the other.

As Sarik continued down the corridor in his search for the next candidates, he suddenly realized that someone was immediately behind him, a strong hand clamping down on his forearm soon after.

"Sarik," Reia said calmly as he let her pull him around. "We'll do it."

Sarik stared down at the girl, the surprise quite evident on his face.

"What caused the change of heart?" he questioned all in all seriousness.

"You can thank her," Reia told him, motioning her head towards Ari, who was strolling towards them from several meters away.

"Thank you," Sarik courtesied in all honesty as he placed a hand on the girl's shoulder. He had always considered her and Ari the youngest in what he considered an extension of his family, Amelia and Aaron being ranked as his barely younger siblings, and wasn't afraid to show his affection towards them in private. "You really don't know how much this means to me."

"Get one thing straight, and get it now," Reia said as she shrugged off his hand and poked a finger in the center of his chest, her sudden change in demeanor almost catching Sarik off guard. "We're not here to die for whatever little crusade you're planning to go on. If Ari gets hurt, I will hunt you down and kill you in the most slow and painful manner that I know. If something happens to ME, I'll walk through all nine circles of hell and drag you down to join me."

Sarik allowed his emotionless composure to fall over him as he stared into the girl's eyes, the orbs portals into her mind. She meant every word that she had just said, her determination evident and unquestionable. At times, Reia could scare him more than Amelia.

"Great to have you on board," Sarik remarked as he broke away from the redhead's grip and began strolling back down the hallway, moving at a pace just slightly faster than normal.

* * *

"So, where you headed?" Amelia questioned as Sarik rounded the corner, her ambush nearly causing him to jump back into a most likely futile fighting stance. That's why she scared him so much; she could follow from a meter behind him, and he'd never realize it.

"I'm going to be informing the _Corsair_'s new commander of his promotion," Sarik told her.

"And who would that be?" the teenage girl questioned, attempting to act as innocent as she possibly could. Which, from Amelia, was awefully convincing.

"That's to remain a secret, for now," Sarik informed her. "Any other questions?"

"Ya," Amelia said. "Where the hell did you get your hands on those ZAKU prototypes? Their mere existence was essentially banned by the Junius Treaty."

"You don't think that anyone would just get rid of something so expensive, would you?" Sarik asked rhetorically. "The Earth Alliance obviously didn't get rid of its nuclear missiles. Why should one assume that ZAFT rid itself of its nuclear powered mobile suits, or even end its research into their further development?"

"That doesn't answer my question," Amelia retorted. "How did you get them? In fact, how did you get that GuIAZ, too? The Firearms Type is equipped with the same weapons as the Freedom and Justice were. ZAFT wouldn't have handed it over a billion credits."

Sarik cringed at the sound of that name, Freedom. He had recently been informed of its destruction, along with the unconfirmed sinking of its carrier, the _Archangel_, both events caused simultaneously by forces coordinated from the ZAFT trans-atmospheric battleship _Minerva_. Sarik really didn't have to think about Chairman Durandel's ulterior motives after that, as the _Archangel_ had been the symbol of power to those individuals and organizations who just simply wished for this to all end, remaining the one truly neutral party in the world's conflicts, even after Orb's alliance with the Atlantic Federation. Only the purpose to which these actions were a means remained a mystery. Obviously, it was something so radical that the Coordinator feared the _Archangel_'s intervention. Rightfully so, as together Kira Yamato, the Freedom's pilot, and the other crew of the _Archangel_ had an overall casualties inflicted record including hundreds of mobile suits and over a dozen warships in the last war.

"I located them in one of ZAFTs deep space military outposts past the moon," Sarik informed her. "They were sitting around, gathering up dust. A few million of my credits to their keepers, and all I had to do was smuggle them out."

"And how did you manage that?" Amelia inquired.

"Well, you see, that same day, there happened to be a small breach in the hangar portion of that base," Sarik informed the teenage girl. "No one was in that part of the facility at the time, but unfortunately, the breach grew so large that a number of vehicles, several mobile suits among them, were ejected so quickly that none of ZAFT's recovery ships could get to them in time."

"And so you took the opportunity to exercise your law-given salvage rights," Amelia continued.

"Well, not me," Sarik corrected. "At the time, I was here, finishing the last semester of my four-year in college."

"You're kidding," Amelia remarked with little emotion. "That was over a year ago."

"It had to have been, or those mobile units wouldn't have been stored so carelessly," Sarik noted. "In fact, if I hadn't taken them, they probably would have been sent to Armory One for refit with their counterparts."

"ZAFT would have been fools to not," Amelia observed. "Though those were probably stolen or destroyed by the Earth Forces like the other mobile suits there."

"Yep," Sarik agreed. "Anything else?"

"Nope," Amelia informed him.

"All right," Sarik said enthusiastically. "Remember, we're doing maneuvers tomorrow. You need to make final adjustments to the GuIAZ and report to the _Somestraba_ by nine hundred hours."

"You sound as if you'll already be out there," Amelia noted.

"I'll be spending the next few days aboard," Sarik informed her. "Just as soon as I make arrangements for Stella."

Amelia glanced at the ground, her hand beginning to ball into a fist at her side.

"Can you please not talk about her?" Amelia requested.

"Why?" Sarik asked.

"Just...don't," Amelia ordered Sarik darkly.

"I'm sorry," Sarik apologized sincerely. "Has she done something to upset you?"

Amelia made eye contact with Sarik and scowled before turning off into a branching corridor. He remained still for a moment, staring off at the blond in confusion.

* * *

Sarik strolled into his room with a sigh. Today was proving to be interesting, to say the least. Convincing someone to command a ship that didn't officially exist yet was to be quite a challenge, especially when he seemed to have a slight inferiority complex going on. What was going to be even more interesting was getting the _Corsair_'s bridge crew trained within the next couple of weeks. Enough to make some sort of a contribution in a combat scenario, anyway.

As the young man moved opened the door to his oversized closet, he detected a subtle breathing immediately behind him. Sarik glanced off to his right to discover Stella looking over his shoulder, clothed in a purple sundress far more modest in design than some of the others that he'd seen her wear.

_Where was she hiding?_ he wondered.

Perhaps she hadn't been. If she had been able to sneak up on him so easily, Stella may have very well just been able to blend in with the background, another unnoticeable object in the room to be overlooked. It was certainly a useful skill to have. Of course, Sarik most likely had just been so caught up in his thoughts that he'd let his guard down. It troubled him, because he had been doing that a lot lately. He used to NEVER let his guard down, even when he was resting.

Sarik turned his attention back to the closet, nearly letting out a curse underneath his breath when he found a number of dresses hanging where his clothing should have been. Sorting through the mess, he eventually located his things, shoved all the way in the back. He would have to thank Sarah for this later.

As he turned about, Sarik realized that Stella was still standing there, her back straight and her arms clasped behind her back, as if she were a subordinate awaiting her orders. But that would make sense, as she had been an unofficial operative in the Earth Alliance forces, hadn't she? And being an Extended, especially one as talented as Stella, they would have ingrained strict obedience into her. Maybe she was so dependent that she needed orders to go about her daily tasks, or at least some sort of authorization? It was a good thing that Sarah was checking up on her several times a day.

"How has your stay been?" Sarik asked Stella as he bent down in the closet to open one of the plastic boxes that his things were now stored in, searching for some of his more "military" outfits. He didn't know, or even really care what the carrier's crew wore on a daily basis, but he felt that he had a personal responsibility to set an example of discipline and conservatism. That's why he preferred the short, military haircut. He didn't really favor the gel-based styling that so many boys his age sported.

"Uh....fine?" Stella replied uncertainly. She still seemed to be quite timid around everyone, even though it had nearly a week since she arrived. Of course she would be. This environment was probably worlds away from the one she had grown up in.

"That's good to hear," Sarik remarked. He hadn't had a real break in the past three days, so he really hadn't been able interact with Stella very much but in the evenings, generally just an acknowledgment of her presence before he collapsed onto one of the couches in the front room and feell asleep. So far, he'd done a poor job at personally taking responsibility for her welfare like he was supposed to be. "Have you been of the room much?"

Sarik heard a slight thud and glanced back at Stella, finding that she had slumped to the floor, her legs locked together and sprawled off to one side. A sad expression dominated her face, something that did little to compliment to her features.

"What's wrong?" Sarik inquired, crawling within several centimeters of his old friend.

Stella glanced back up at him, her eyes showing hurt. Like the kind she would express when they would take him away for days at a time in the Blue Cosmos facility. So that's what was troubling her.

"I'm sorry that I haven't been around a lot lately," Sarik told her, placing his hand over hers on the floor. "As soon as things settle down, I PROMISE I'll be around more. All right?"

Stella looked at him and nodded, her expression lightening slightly.

"Until then, if you need or want anything, all you have to do is ask," Sarik informed the younger girl as he began to move back into the closet.

But before he could, Stella grabbed his hand and practically leaped onto him, forcing him into an embrace. Sarik began blushing almost immediately, but quickly controlled himself. That was the virtue in this situation: control. But at the same time, a little discretion wouldn't hurt either, would it? She might take it the wrong way if he forced himself out of her grip.

Sarik returned the embrace, puling Stella closer to himself. He had to admit, this wasn't unpleasant. And part of him worried because of this. He had to be careful to not cross the line, especially with Stella. He'd come too far, and he had too little time.

During the moment that Sarik held Stella, he realized that they had never shared anything of this sort, not in this deliberate of fashion. Even in the Blue Cosmos facility, eleven years ago, their relationship was never...physical, in the literal sense of the word. In fact, there were relatively few words to it, at least between them one-on-one. It had been a silent, mutual thing. They had come to understand each other so well that they were able to recognize the other's body language easily enough to quickly realize what was going on with the other.

As Sarik realized how long they had been sitting there, he began to slowly separated himself from Stella, lightly patting her thrice on one of her shoulders before unwrapping his arms from around her back.

"So you really haven't got out much, have you?" Sarik asked as he came to a sitting rest, propping his right arm against his folded leg.

"No..." Stella answered solemnly, resting her hands on her legs.

"Well, there's some things I wanted to get you tested for, anyway," Sarik remarked as he rose to his feet and held out a hand to the girl. "Would you mind that?"

Stella smiled and shook her head as she took his arm, allowing him to pull her to her feet.

* * *

"You really think I'm qualified for this?" Sarik inquired of the Coordinator before him, his and many other SSI Extended's hand-to-hand combat trainer for several years, now. "I had intended for you to do the testing."

"Of course," replied Takeo. Though the brown-haired man's origins could be traced back to Asia, from Sarik's understanding, he had never visited the continent or any of its islands in his entire life. However, his parents apparently had done an excellent job in ensuring that the combat arts of their ancestors were preserved, as only until the past few years could Sarik hold his own against the man in a fair fight. "I'll keep an eye on you and end it if I think things are getting rough. You'll be fine."

"All right," Sarik said. "Now we just have to..."

But he abruptly cut himself off as Sarah strolled into the padded room followed by Stella, who was now dressed in a loose fitting t-shirt and sweatpants, just like Sarik, Takeo, and the large number of Coordinators, Extendeds, and Natural security personnel that stood around the room's edges as observers. During sparring sessions, flexibility was encouraged, because if one was using their hands and feet to fight, it was often because they were unarmed, which usually meant that they weren't encumbered by body armor and field equipment. Learning to be able to put the entirety of one's focus and effort into a fight was an essential if one was to win the said melee.

Stella, though unwavering in her steps, began glancing around the room, memorizing the locations of every one of its occupants. Sarik could empathize: he didn't like having deal with crowds of strangers, either. But, over time, these people no longer be strangers to her. Hopefully Stella realized this, and would be able to settle in quickly, before he was gone.

"Are you sure this is fine?" Sarah asked Stella, apparently continuing an already ongoing conversation. "If you feel uncomfortable, all you have to do is say no."

"Yes," Stella replied, nodding her head in the affirmative. She was going to stay.

Sarah glanced in Sarik's direction.

"You better take extra special care of her," Sarah threatened. From the black-haired woman's tone, Sarik figured that catastrophic consequences would result if he didn't.

"Of course," Sarik assured her.

"Good," Sarah remarked before leaving.

Takeo stared off at the rooms entrance, his expression that of morbid curiosity. The man snapped to a moment later.

"Well, might as well get started," he suggested. "Sir, would you please provide these two with mouth guards?"

One of the spectators pushed himself off of the wall he was leaning against and grabbed a pair of packaged objects from a small table near his location. The young man tossed one to Sarik and Stella each.

Sarik snatched the package from the air and popped it open, revealing a plastic mouth guard. This was really all the protection equipment they ever used in the upper levels, where the fights were often intense and fast. It was actually safer among the Coordinators and Extendeds to be able to restrain their opponent unhindered than to beat away at each other with gloved hands.

A moment later, both Sarik and Stella were situated opposite of each other by several centimeters, awaiting further instruction. Stella appeared extremely tense, as if she were expecting an attack at any moment. Sarik smirked. This was going to be interesting, for once. Most of his opponents didn't hold up for more than a minute before he forced them into submission. Perhaps Stella would go longer, or maybe even create a stalemate.

"All right, Stella, here's what we're going to do," Takeo started. "In a moment, I want you to attack Sarik-"

Sarik tensed up as Stella launched herself at him almost instantly, her hands a blur. He attempted to defend himself, but the younger girl most definitely got the jump on him, and before he knew it, she had one of his arms pinned painfully behind his back and was forcing him to the ground. Sarik smashed into the floor face first, the entirety of his and Stella's weight behind the impact. Takeo rushed in and managed to catch Stella's arm just before she brought a flat-handed blow down into the back of Sarik's neck.

"Miss Stella, please settle down!" Takeo yelled as she began to struggle. The girl froze, her only movement the rising and falling of her upper body as she panted. A moment, she released Sarik's arm and moved away from him, a hint of instant regret among her currently nearly-emotionless features.

"Are you all right, Sarik?" Takeo questioned in an almost chastising manner as the young man rose to his feet, rubbing the back of his head.

"Ya, I'm fine," Sarik informed him. "I don't think there's any permanent damage."

Sarik rotated around towards the audience when he heard light laughter coming from some of the spectators. He didn't appreciate being mocked in the least, especially not by inexperienced whelps such as these.

"Perhaps you would like to try for a round?" Sarik suggested in a serious tone. As he expected, the room fell silent. Typical.

"I will," said a young woman's voice from the sparring room's entrance. Sarik spun about once again to find Amelia leaning against the door frame, dressed in the same shirt and sweatpants as everyone else in the room. Sarik wondered why she felt the need for the dramatic entrance. It generally wasn't her style.

"If that's all right with Stella," Sarik told her, then turned toward Stella. "Would you be fine with that?"

But Sarik quickly realized that Stella wasn't paying him any attention. She was looking over at Amelia, her expression and demeanor completely unrevealing. Just like when any of the trained Extendeds were examining a target. Based on the the abruptness of Stella's change, Sarik had to wonder, did she recognize Amelia?

"Stella," Sarik said forcefully, trying to get her attention.

Stella snapped out of her silent state and looked up at him, her demeanor more similar to what it had been before. Right now, she looked completely innocent, not even remotely threatening. It was such a great deception that Sarik generally forgot about what she could do until he or someone else was on the receiving end of it. He had to get the image of that innocent little girl out of his head.

"Yes," Stella agreed emotionlessly.

Sarik made eye contact with Amelia and nodded, then glanced over at Takeo for confirmation. The glare he received from the man was comparable to those he used to receive from Sarah in years passed. Sarik walked over to the man, so that he would be outside of earshot of the others during what was obviously going to be an argument.

"What are you doing?" the instructor inquired quietly.

"I'm allowing the two of them to spar," Sarik told him.

"Someone's going to get hurt," Takeo speculated.

"I trust Amelia will use discretion as much as myself," Sarik assured Takeo.

"It's not her I'm worried about," the older man expressed. "You know what Stella just did."

Sarik stared off at Amelia for a moment in thought. This might actually be a bad idea, he had to admit, one he had agreed to without much thought. If she wanted to, Stella could overpower any individual in this room, if she caught him by surprise.

But she wouldn't have that kind of advantage this time, would she? The spar would be on completely even footing. And Amelia was as experienced in unarmed combat as him, though her fighting style relied on accuracy and the targeting of apparent weak spots, while his relied more on being able to overpower his opponent with speed and force, with a few exceptions, such as when in his frenzy he could discern an opening in his enemy's pattern of attack.

"They'll be fine," Sarik said adamantly.

Takeo sighed.

"You may start when you're ready, ladies," Takeo informed the two.

Sarik watched as Stella fell down into a fighting stance, but a few seconds later, by when he thought she would attack, the teenager was still in the same position, motionless but for her breathing. Interesting. Stella had been so aggressive earlier. Was she aware now that she had snapped earlier?

Sarik's eyes narrowed as he caught Amelia smirking just before launching herself forward at Stella, her arms and legs moving at speeds only to Extendeds and Coordinators could react to. Stella retaliated with her own attacks, blocking every one of Amelia's blows and counterattacking, some of her thrusts getting through. But so far, both of the girls were using plenty of discretion, neither of them actually causing harm to the other when they made contact. Sarik was proud of both of them, because there were many people several years their senior that he couldn't trust to be so careful.

The two blonds continued trading their mock blows, Stella growing increasingly defensive as Amelia's offensive grew progressively more aggressive. It appeared part of the reason behind Amelia's push was that Stella was growing progressively more hesitant, most likely trying to avoid causing the other girl harm, even in the smallest extent. Sarik knew that he would have to intervene soon, or someone WOULD get hurt.

But before he could take any action, Amelia lashed out at Stella with obvious intent behind her blow. Her forceful jab made contact with the other girl's jaw, and it went downhill from there.

Stella, unwilling to take obvious this punishment, retaliated, bringing up a kick as she recomposed her posture, catching Amelia in the side of the knee, followed by an uppercut that made contact with Amelia's, snapping her head upward. The blond stumbled backwards, a crazed smirk dominating her face the entire time. Amelia regained her balance, then launched herself at her newfound rival. She and Stella traded malicious blows for a few seconds more until Amelia managed to restrain one of Stella's arms with her left hand. The teenage Extended brought her right hand back in a fist and punched Stella across the brunt of her face, blood starting to settle on the girl's face. Amelia pulled her arm back to in preparation for a second blow and let loose.

But Sarik had made his way over to them by then, and forced himself between the two girls. Amelia couldn't stop herself, and her blow smashed its way into Sarik's chest, the entirety of her rage behind it. However, Sarik held his ground, standing stiff as a wall despite the fact that every ounce of air had just been forced from his body.

Sarik glared at Amelia as he broke her hold on Stella by grabbing her forearm and squeezing with all of his might. Sarik loosed his grip on Amelia slightly and drug her out of the sparring room angrily.

"What the hell...was that?!" Sarik yelled in between pants as he closed the door to the chamber.

"What do you mean?" the girl questioned almost innocently.

"I'm not stupid!" Sarik spat angrily.

"Would you please let go?" Amelia requested with malice in her voice. "You're hurting me."

Sarik looked down and realized that he was squeezing the girl's arm even harder than before, the skin around where he gripped her beginning to turn a dark red. He loosened his hold, Amelia quickly pulling away as she rubbed her sore arm.

"Now, answer me," Sarik ordered forcefully. "What is wrong?"

"Nothing whatsoever," Amelia replied sarcastically. "I was just a replacement, after all."

"What the hell?" Sarik said. "Replacement? Where on Earth did you get that from?"

"Admit it," Amelia taunted arrogantly. "We're the same age, about the same size, have the same hair color..."

"No, you do not," Sarik interrupted in a slightly humored manner. "Yours is much lighter..."

Amelia's face turned absolutely sour, and she threw a punch at Sarik. He remained unmoving ,and allowed the small girl to land the blow in his stomach. Coming from one of his few equals in unarmed combat, the attack knocked Sarik to the ground, a truly surprising amount of strength behind it.

"You always have to be such an ass, don't you?" Amelia questioned before walking off briskly.

Sarik quickly stood back up and ran after her, attempting to catch his breath for the second time today as he did. She always had to get so irrational whenever she got upset about ANYTHING, didn't she? She had acted like this the time that he accidentally stepped on and broke one of her hairbrushes when he was thirteen.

"Amelia!" Sarik yelled, trying to catch her attention.

But she kept on walking, obviously ignoring him.

Sarik sprinted up on the girl, grabbing her on the shoulder. Amelia tried to yank away, but he kept his grip and pulled her out of the corridor into a stairwell.

"Leave me alone," the girl ordered in a threatening tone, her eyes conveying the most hatred Sarik had ever perceived from her, even towards her enemies.

But, ignoring her demeanor, Sarik impulsively pulled Amelia into a hug, holding her there. Amelia tried to force herself away from him but, after realizing his hold on her was adamant, gave up. Nearly a full minute later, Sarik released the girl.

"Sorry," he apologized as he moved back several centimeters, scratching the back of his head with a passion the entire time.

"What was that?" Amelia inquired coldly, glaring at him.

"I don't know," Sarik admitted as his arm fell to his side. "It seemed right."

"I didn't realize that you had a conscience," Amelia remarked.

Sarik sighed.

"What's wrong?" he questioned considerately. "Seriously?"

"I already told you," Amelia informed him, an even colder demeanor falling over her. "I'm a substitute."

"Do you really believe that?" Sarik asked.

"Do you really not?" the girl inquired.

Sarik stared off at the wall for a moment, thinking over everything that had happened during the past eleven years. Was she a replacement? He had never thought of her that way, and he didn't like to think so, but what did his actions say? Why had he chosen her out of hundreds to associate with? Some subconscious desire manipulating his actions, all those years ago?

"Maybe...you were," he admitted grudgingly, then returned his focus to Amelia's eyes. "But if you ever _were_, you haven't been for a while now. I have never tried to compare you to Stella, nor her to you."

"So the truth finally comes out," Amelia remarked, apparently ignoring the second half of everything that he had said.

"What is your problem?" Sarik growled. "I'm trying to work with you here, and you're just being flat out stubborn!"

"So what if I am?" she asked. "How would you act if you were used for half of your life, just to be thrown out like a piece of trash?"

"Who said anything about throwing anyone out?!" Sarik yelled. "Where do you get these things?"

"Since SHE got here, you've been doing nothing with your free time but take care of her, and then some," Amelia observed.

"'And then some?'" Sarik repeated angrily.

"Do I have an echo now?" Amelia taunted. "I saw you two when you got back after your little 'trip' a couple days ago. You know, after your little incident?"

Sarik averted his attention towards one of the walls and started chuckling.

"You really are ignorant, aren't you?" he almost laughed. "You think you know it all. You have no Earthly idea what happened in that town, do you? I bet you haven't even bothered asking Sarah."

"I don't need to," Amelia said. "I think the way you were holding each other explained plenty."

"Did you know that Stella has a block word?" Sarik asked calmly.

"And?" Amelia questioned.

"Do you know what happens when an Extended is exposed to that word?" Sarik inquired rhetorically. "Physically and emotionally?"

"Yes," Amelia answered.

"Well, now you know," Sarik told her.

Amelia glared at Sarik for a moment longer, then averted her gaze towards the ground.

"It doesn't change the fact that you used me," she informed Sarik as she wiped a tiny tear from her cheek a moment later. "Don't expect anything from me any time soon."

Sarik watched Amelia as she left the stairwell, then smashed his fist into concrete wall, nearly yelling in pain as one of his fingers partially dislocated itself, popping back into place on its own.

This was what happened every time, wasn't it? Everyone got along fine until something, small or big, came along. Then all bonds, all respect, all understanding, went out the window, as if he betrayed his nation or something, as if he were a traitor through and through. Ultimately, the only one you could rely on was yourself, wasn't it? He seemed to be the only one seeing things rationally in this world anymore.

* * *

Sarik strolled back into the sparring chamber to find that it had been almost completely vacated but for Takeo, Stella, and now, Sarah. Sarik's mentor sat on the floor with Stella, cleaning the girl's face with a disinfectant wipe of some sort. Stella didn't seem to be paying much attention to much of anything, her gaze directed down at one of her hands, which rested on the ground.

"That was stupid," Takeo said bluntly as he left.

"I had no way to know that Amelia would react like that," Sarik replied to the man's back, though the words were more for himself as the man left sight. "And yes, it was stupid. I should have seen it coming."

"You're right, you should of," Sarah remarked from the floor.

Sarik averted his gaze to the black-haired woman, whose attention still seemed to be on cleansing Stella's injuries.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Sarik inquired.

"You've know Amelia as long and as well as I do," Sarah reminded him. "You know how protective she is of those she cares about. And how jealous she can be of those same people. Remember that short period when you and Aaron were doing practically everything together?"

Sarik pondered this for a moment. The combination of the two emotions could prove volatile, as he had already witnessed. But the last part troubled him. Jealous of those same people? Was Sarah implying that Amelia, on some level, cared for Stella, too? Even though the two had only known of each other for a couple of days? Or perhaps, because he cared, she felt she had to, also?

Sarik shook his head slightly. This was getting far too complicated, even for him. He had never done well at the social aspects of life.

"What would you have me do about it?" Sarik questioned. No point in speculating or arguing anything further. Now, it was time to fix the problem, rather than continually adding on to it.

"That's for you to figure out," Sarah told him as she stood, finished with Stella. "But you have other things to worry about right now."

"Actually, would you mind watching Stella for the next few days?" Sarik requested. "I meant to ask you sooner, but I just never got around to it."

"Why?" Sarah inquired.

"I was going to spend some time out on the carrier," Sarik informed her. "Participate in some of the maneuvers."

"No," Sarah replied bluntly.

"Why not?" Sarik asked.

"Because I said so," Sarah answered boldly. "Why don't you take Stella with you?"

"I was just planning on taking one of our Spearheads," Sarik told her. "One of the single-seat variants."

"Why don't you take the Windslider?" Sarah suggested. "That has two seats."

"Sarah!" Sarik exclaimed involuntarily.

That was his personal fighter plane, a machine that had been designed personally for him when he had begun flying a few years earlier. At the time of its fabrication, it was superior to the Alliance's F-7 Spearhead and FX-550 Skygrasper fighters, with nearly twice the flight range, slightly more maneuverability, and stealth technology as advance as one could get without the use of a Mirage Colloid cloaking system. Over the last couple of years, he had modified it with a more modern suite of weapons, the configuration somewhat resembling that of a Skygrasper's. In fact, the Windslider could now mount both Alliance and ZAFT designed expansion modules, giving the fighter a great deal of adaptability. With its accumulation of modifications, however, even when encumbered by the heaviest of Striker packs, it still outperformed a Skygrapser in identical circumstances by at least a slight amount.

Sarik's face tightened upon hearing the name, as the mere mention of the plane brought back a series of memories, both positive and negative thoughts attached with them. It had been his father who had the craft built, the project completed shortly before his death. The Windslider had been so secret that Sarik had actually ended up fighting against it before learning of its existence. Since then, he had only flown it a few times, as he intended to keep its capabilities, and if possible, even its mere existence, a secret, though with the way things were, all of the major nations probably had its technical data locked away in some low-level government facility.

"You do realize what kind of people are out there, right?" Sarik questioned Sarah. "Around my age, some ex-military, MALE."

"I'm certain you can be creative," Sarah encouraged.

Sarik sighed, as he had seemingly dozens of times earlier today.

"You REALLY love to push stuff on people like this, don't you?" he asked rhetorically as he ran his hand down his face, massaging his forehead.

"Only when its for their own good," Sarah replied.

"And what qualifies you to decide that?" Sarik inquired.

"A PHD in psychology helps," Sarah said.

Sarik began shaking his head, but quickly stopped when he realized that Stella was staring at him, her face, though unadorned with smile or frown, relaxed, as if she were relieved that he'd been relatively cooperative up to this point. The young man realized that they'd been ignoring her this entire time. Stella was just so quiet, it was easy to forget that she was there. He would have to watch himself in the future.

"Fine," Sarik complied grudgingly. "Could you help Stella pack while I make the arrangements?"

"Of course," Sarah agreed as she held her hand out to Stella.

"Let's go get you packed," she suggested to the girl.

Sarik turned about and began leaving when a thought popped into his mind.

"And Sarah?" Sarik said as he stopped and turned his head.

"Yes?" she answered after she pulled Stella to her feet.

"Find Stella a decent flight suit, would you?" the young man requested. "Fluorescent orange doesn't compliment anyone."

* * *

Sarik slid the last of his things into the Windslider's cargo bay, which weren't much to begin with. A duffel bag with a few days worth of amenities, a small case with some paperwork that he needed to get done, and a case concealing a couple of his long-arms. Most likely, he wouldn't have the luxury of accessing these weapons, so he would have to rely on his knife, his side-arm, and his own two hands if he found himself in a hand-to-hand combat scenario between here and the carrier. Though he highly doubted that anything like that would happen at all during this trip.

As Sarik moved off towards a nearby terminal to check over the fighter's systems once more, he spotted Stella and Sarah making their way across the hangar, which at the moment housed eight Skygraspers, each equipped with a Striker pack of one configuration or the other. This squadron was currently SSI headquarter's alert force. If anything flew within a certain range of the base, these eight planes would be in the air within three minutes, ready to shoot down the intruder if it seemed even remotely suspicious.

As Sarik shut down the maintenance programs and began booting up the fighter's operational systems, Stella took her place beside him, glancing around his shoulder in order to see what he was doing. Sarik looked back at her, pleased with what he saw. Sarah had managed to find her more than a decent flight suit. It was similar to his own in design, which was derived from the Earth Alliance's flight suits. The decoration was much the same, but her crimson was a dark violet color, and it dominated as much of the suit as the black did on his, only being complimented by the dark base. Now that Sarik thought of it, he had seen Amelia wearing a flight suit just like this one when she was piloting the Windslider nearly three years ago. It would explain the fit, and the short notice in which Sarah had located it. He hoped to god that Sarah hadn't swiped it from the girl, as angry as she was with him and Stella at the moment.

"Well, everything looks good," Sarik remarked as he deactivated the terminal and moved back a few centimeters from Stella. "Ready?"

Stella simply nodded her head once, and Sarik caught Sarah getting in a smirk.

"What?" Sarik questioned in an insulted fashion.

Sarah walked over to him, carrying a suit case that he assumed held Stella's belongings.

"Be nice to her," Sarah told him quietly as she shoved the container into Sarik's arms.

"Will do," he complied quickly and without remark.

Sarah's expression turned to that of curiosity almost at the instant he said this.

"What?" Sarik questioned again, this time in a somewhat amused tone.

"You've changed," his mentor told him.

"Aren't we always changing?" Sarik asked.

"Perhaps," Sarah agreed shallowly, then looked off at Stella. "You two have a good time."

For some reason, Sarik began blushing almost instantly upon hearing those words. He quickly ducked away, going about placing Stella's things into the cargo bay. A minute later, he had the small compartment sealed. After walking up and down both sides of his craft, to ensure that there was nothing out of place, Sarik returned to where he had left Stella at the terminal.

"I think it's as good as its going to get," Sarik informed Stella, who was now alone. "Shall we?"

The girl nodded, then walked over towards the Windslider. Sarik grabbed up his helmet, which had been resting next to the terminal, and followed.

"I'll be taking the seat in the front," Sarik informed Stella. "If you don't mind, that is."

Stella glanced at Sarik as she placed her helmet on her head, reminding him of the one time that he might have accidentally implied she was stupid. After sealing the component to her suit, Stella climbed up the ladder to the maintenance platform that set parallel to the cockpit.

Sarik shook his head at himself as he sealed on his own helmet and followed suit. Soon after, he was buckled snuggly into the pilot's chair.

"Radio check," Sarik said after he activated the fighter's comm unit, keying in the radios built into his and Stella's helmets.

"Your equipment appears to be functioning perfectly," Stella informed in a matter-of-fact tone that made caused her to sound years older. "The transmission is optimal."

Sarik glanced over his shoulder, his helmet hiding his amazement. That was probably the most he had ever heard the girl say at once as of recent. And the way she said it; Stella sounded like a seasoned soldier, her voice calm, emotionless, and unwavering. Just another reminder of what she truly was, and what she could do.

Sarik quickly glanced around the hangar, ensuring that no one was nearby. The maintenance platform had retracted automatically, now providing the Windslider with a wide berth of over thirty meters from all of the equipment that littered the area. When Sarik was positive he had enough room to safely power the Windslider, he went about the pre-takeoff preparations.

"Contact!" Sarik yelled out of protocol, ending the sequence by igniting the engines. A loud roaring dominated his hearing for a moment, the sound quickly dying as the fighter's engines revved down from the initial startup.

Sarik glanced over the craft's instruments, still amazed at how quickly they stabilized. Even up until two or three decades ago, a jet propelled craft would require at least a couple minutes before it could safely take off. To offset this, the military relied on ancient technology that remotely started their craft in order to scramble them with the least amount of time lost. Inevitably, this would lead to a variety of undesirable circumstances, such as carelessly placed equipment and men being suddenly sucked into the turbines. Now, technology had come so far that even a dated craft such as the F-7 Spearhead could be in the air within twenty seconds of the pilot's arrival.

"This is aircraft OCSSI-5960," Sarik reported after he keyed into the local air control. "We are currently awaiting confirmation for takeoff. Requesting a weather forecast and launch instructions."

The hangar doors slowly slid open, providing Sarik with a venue of escape. He carefully put power into the Windslider's engines, causing the fighter to move forward at about human walking pace.

"This is Occaeco air control to civilian aircraft," replied a man's level voice. "The current forecast is sunny with little or no cloud coverage, temperature of twenty-seven degrees Celsius, and steady winds blowing southeast at approximately fourteen kilometers per hour. Launch strip three is recommended. There are no aircraft in the immediate vicinity, so you may take off when ready. We will update you if there are any changes."

Sarik taxied the Windslider up the runway, eventually moving its nose in line with the strip that he had been assigned. Sarik glanced over the area, realizing that just beyond the runway was nothing but ocean. If something went wrong, there would be little that could save them. Of course, if he was truly concerned, he could simply perform a vertical take-off, a feature common in most fighter craft of the time. But not only did that waste precious energy, but it also wasn't nearly as fun.

"This is OCSSI-5960," Sarik said. "We are ready for take-off."

"Roger that," the controller replied. "Conditions remain approximate to before."

"Affirmative," Sarik complied. "Stand by."

Sarik twisted his head back, barely able to see Stella, whose seat rose just above his, similar to the ancient two-seater helicopters used in the pre-Cosmic eras, though the feature was not quite as exaggerated.

"Do you mind if we fly around for a little while?" Sarik asked her after keying the private comm. "I don't get to fly for fun very often."

"Sure," Stella replied, her voice seeming to have returned to the quiet norm.

"Thank you," Sarik told her as he returned his attention to Windslider's instruments.

"This is aircraft OCSSI-5960, taking off!" Sarik reported as he pushed the fighter's power to maximum. While he normally wouldn't do this, he was in a trying mood today. He had a couple of free hours to kill, and he was going to enjoy them to their fullest.

Sarik was forced back into the pilot's chair as the engines roared to life, instantly jerking the fighter forward. As they neared the end of the runway, Sarik lifted the aircraft's nose and simultaneously retracted the landing gear. The Windslider shot off of the runway and over the ocean, throwing up a distinct cloud of mist in its wake.

Sarik quickly pulled the fighter into a climb, moving up several thousand meters to where he could safely perform the less orthodox maneuvers in his book of tricks. After leveling out, Sarik reduced most of the power to the engines and rolled the fighter partially onto its side, providing him and Stella with an unrestricted view of the island of Occaeco, his home for the past two years. It wasn't the largest of places, less than 40 square kilometers in size, but it was also relatively unpopulated, with only a couple of towns on one side of the natural construct. The largest settlement was SSI headquarters, which was more akin to a military base in configuration, and rivaled some of the Atlantic Federation's largest fortresses in size. It had everything one could want in such an establishment: reinforced walls, anti-aircraft batteries, heavy weapon emplacements, concealed harbors and aircraft hangars, factories, and even its own power plants.

It was a not-so-well kept secret that most of the corporation's military power resided here. Currently, SSI had an overabundance of fighter craft due to the massive surplus left over from when all sides involved in the last war converted to using mobile suits as their primary combat units. Nearly two hundred Earth alliance F-7 spearheads and ZAFT Infestus fighters filled many of SSI's hangars, at least two-thirds of that number combat ready at any given time. SSI also had over 500 antiquated VTOL fighters and helicopters of Atlantic Federation and Orb Union origin, converted into remote-operated drones meant for use as pawns. Even with larger caliber weapons installed than what came standard, they were intended to be nothing more than a nuisance to the enemy, cannon-fodder meant to reduce casualties on the crews of the manned aircraft, due to their lack of individual versatility. But among the fighter craft, the real trump cards were the nineteen Skygraspers, or twenty, if one counted the Windslider among them.

But the most vital part of the defense part was not among the antiquated fighter wings, but the small mobile suit force for which they were meant to provide support. Sarik had nearly one hundred ex-military pilots at his disposal, a large minority of them deserters from South America whom had been forced into the service of the Earth Alliance during the last war. Unfortunately, SSI only had about sixty mobile weapons total available to it at any given time, a set fifteen protecting the corporation's orbital research and production facility, along with the assistance of a number of Moebius units and a pair of practically useless _Drake_-class escort ships, the pre-refit kind. But those numbers would soon be on a rise, as Sarik had ordered an increase in mobile suit production shortly after the destruction of the Freedom and the _Archangel_. Hopefully, there would be enough surplus after the company's private contracts were fulfilled to significantly bolster its mobile weapon force.

In addition to the numerous amounts aircraft and mobile weapons, SSI's ground defense force consisted of dozens of redesigned linear tanks, over one hundred mobile missile launchers, dozens of hardened heavy weapons fortifications along the beaches, and close to four hundred anti-aircraft emplacements, ranging from CIWS turrets to 150mm repeating cannons to rapid-fire missile batteries. Sarik had been serious about remaining independent from any of the world's powers, even if it cost him and SSI a literal fortune. He would love to see any nation be able to spare enough forces to blast their way into the main facility. But, of course, he could count on the Orb military to come running to his aid within hours, since the facility was within the nation's territorial borders, and since they were the ones licensing him to organize this private military. Though if the Orb homeland came under attack, it was their duty to protect Occaeco in the defense force's place, and even assist the Orb military in the defense of the main island, if the fight were to become bad enough.

Sarik snapped to as he realized that some of his instrument's readings were changing in a seeming erratic manner. But glancing over them once more, he realized that the readings were actually adjusting themselves to become more detailed, and in a very consistent, organized pattern. He quickly understood what was going on.

"Stella, could you please not mess with anything?" Sarik requested. He wasn't so much worried that she would unintentionally sabotage any of the instruments, but that she might accidentally switch control of the Windslider to the co-pilot's station. Though if she already had such an understanding of the equipment, she likely already knew how to do this. Sarik leveled out the fighter and began flipping several switches, to ensure that she would be unable to do so easily from now on.

Suddenly, several alarms went off inside of the cockpit, and three blips appeared on Sarik's radar. He hadn't been paying so much attention to that, as, to his knowledge, no one else was flying out here today. That was probably one of the reasons his father had the co-pilot station installed in the first place. When he was devoted to a particular mundane task, Sarik tended to become near-sighted. As a result, he was often caught by surprise when things changed from calm to hectic while he was performing the said task.

The Windslider's computer quickly identified the three craft as Spearheads, flying straight towards him. Most likely, they had come from the carrier. Some bored kids looking for something to do.

"This is SSI Combat Air Patrol One to civilian aircraft," Sarik heard over the radio. "Your configuration does not match that of any vehicles in our database. Identify yourself."

Sarik was about to do so when the Windslider shuddered so much that he actually had to put some effort into compensating the craft. An eye blink later, the formation of three F-7s were several hundred meters ahead of him, and continuing to distance themselves from the Windslider at a rapid pace. This behavior was something that Sarik wouldn't tolerate, not in his military, and not towards him.

"You want to get them back?" Sarik asked Stella.

"Yes," Stella replied in her military, adult voice. She was about as thrilled about their little stunt as he was. The stunt was enough to cause even a veteran pilot to flinch reflexively.

Sarik smirked as he flooded power into the engines, causing the Windslider to accelerate quickly. The fighter craft soon broke fifteen hundred kilometers per hour, and continued to gain airspeed. Seconds later, he was only a few hundred meters away from the F-7 formation, who were flying in a standard V configuration. Sarik pulled up on flight stick, causing the Windslider to move into an almost completely vertical climb. After he was satisfied with the height, Sarik strained himself to force the fighter's nose down while simultaneously putting the craft into a spin.

Sarik let out a yell of simultaneous exhilaration and fear while the fighter dove almost straight downwards in front of lead fighter, probably only five or so meters away when he passed it. As he expected, the Spearheads broke formation and dove after him, trying to get on his tail. Sarik leveled out the fighter and pulled to the right, causing the Windslider to dart away with its superior mobility. One of the F-7s got on his tail and began locking onto the craft, but was quickly thwarted as Sarik easily broke away from the engagement and pulled up on the stick, performing a three-sixty. Sarik allowed the maneuver to turn into a dive in order to stay on the Spearhead's tail, as the pilot was now speeding down and to the left of where he had been flying.

Sarik activated his own target acquisition program and locked onto the F-7, though he had no intention of using any of the Windslider's weapons, the couple that were loaded. He just wanted to have a little fun. He doubted that F-7 pilots planned to use their armaments, either, but one never knew.

Sarik pulled out of the dive and hit his brakes as another of the F-7s pulled up behind him, causing his cockpit alarms to go berserk. This was going to be fun, alright.

Time froze for Sarik as he perceived a faint sound, like joyous laughter. Stella was really enjoying herself? He smiled at the prospect, happy that she was happy. But Sarik quickly quelled the thought. He was probably just hearing things as a result of the blood rushing rapidly in and out of his head.

* *

"Will you be able to make the modifications aboard the carrier?" Sarik asked the mechanic chief in front of him. "I can understand if you're unable to."

"It won't be a problem, sir," the large man before him assured. "We should be able to use the same systems as the ones for the Skygraspers."

"Then I leave it in your hands," Sarik informed. "Just make sure that its ready for the exercises in the morning."

"Will do," the mechanic complied.

As the man strolled off to begin his preparations, Sarik glanced up at the Windslider one last time. It was sad to think that this craft was nearly as obsolete as the F-7s and the Infestus fighters. If today's experiences today were worth anything, air combat was far more interesting when the world relied on these elegant machines rather than the god-like mobile suits. It wasn't to say there wasn't a form of exhilaration in flying those, either, but it wasn't nearly as adrenaline-pumping as trading missile and machine gun fire at supersonic speeds.

Sarik looked up as he heard the sound of incoming jets, spotting three F-7 fighters preparing to land. One of them was diving in at normal speed, lining up with the deck, while the other two were moving slowly towards the many designated landings areas on the back end of the massive _Tarawa_-class carrier, using the VTOL thrusters located underneath the craft in order to hover.

As the lead fighter caught the carrier's cable and accelerated, Sarik realized that Stella was nowhere in sight. He walked around the Windslider to find her sitting near the carrier's edge, staring off at the ocean. Sarik was half tempted to yank her back from the side, as a single strong gust could lift her the remaining meter or so and send her careening off the edge, nearly a thirty meter drop. He quickly thought against it. If there were to be any gusts, they would most likely blow her TOWARDS the carrier, as the Windslider currently served as a breaker for any wind coming in from behind them.

Sarik leaned against the side of his fighter, taking advantage of the break to stare off not at the ocean, but at the vessels that floated on its surface. Several hundred meters off of the the port side of the carrier, where Sarik stood, was a _Kuraokami_-class destroyer that had been raised from the wreckage that was left behind from the Earth Alliance's invasion of Orb during the last war. On the starboard side, Sarik knew there would be a ship of similar class, most likely another salvage from that horrid battle.

Though he didn't show it, Sarik's mood had quickly turned solemn. Was that all he was: a scavenger, a parasite? Leeching off the corpses of the dead in order to better establish his power? Most of the fleet, totaling a number of 15 ships, was currently hidden inside of the harbors back at base, two-thirds of them the corpses of vessels that had been reanimated during the period of Orb's reconstruction. This carrier was the Frankenstein of the group, actually composed of parts salvaged from multiple Earth Alliance carriers sunk by Orb and its allies.

"You still think too much, I see," Sarik heard an accented voice remark from behind him.

The nineteen-year-old turned his head to spot the brown-haired, blue-eyed Eli Garza, one of SSI's best pilots, and at one point, Sarik's personal combat flight instructor. He assumed that Eli had been the pilot of the lead fighter, based on the man's apparel and the timely fashion in which he came to great Sarik. Not to mention the expressed skill of the F-7 formation's leader. Though Eli was also SSI's best Murasame pilot, he had the most experience and talent in F-7s, so much that few living men could outperform him, assuming they were flying the same or similar craft.

"Better too much than too little," Sarik replied. "If everyone thought as much as I do, there wouldn't be many wars."

"An arrogant remark," Eli observed.

"Perhaps," Sarik agreed, pushing off of the fighter and standing tall before his teacher. "You still fly well."

"You assumed I wouldn't?" the South American pilot questioned.

"It's been over two years since the end of the last war," Sarik said. "And you deserted a few months before it actually ended. We all loose touch over time."

"I haven't been idle," Garza reminded Sarik. "I don't know where you got that from."

"You haven't had to challenge yourself much while in my service," Sarik observed. "If you're not constantly improving yourself, you slowly regress."

"A valid theory," Eli agreed. "I see you found yourself a girlfriend."

"She's not," Sarik corrected. "Just a friend."

"So you're still a virgin?" Garza questioned obnoxiously.

Sarik glared at the man, who was only about seven years his senior. Though the South American was an even better pilot than he, Eli had a number of vices, including a very good understanding with members of the opposite sex. It always seemed that he was in the company of one woman or the other, though the relationships could last anywhere from an hour to a month. Sarik tolerated this only because Eli did a well enough job of not being obviously flirtatious while on duty, and so far hadn't used his position to take advantage of his underlings. Though that still didn't stop him from just flat out taking advantage of them. Sarik had actually a couple promising females quit in the past year under while they were Garza's command, though it was only personal speculation that he had been in any sort of relationship with either of them. His outward immaturity also caused problems.

"I would appreciate it if you would not bring up my love life," Sarik informed the man.

"What love life?" Garza taunted.

"The one that involves a South American man, a coil of rope, and a set of lead weights," Sarik threatened dryly.

"You know you won't do that," Eli told Sarik.

"Perhaps not," Sarik said. "But could you do me a favor?"

"Sure," Eli agreed.

"Get the word going around that the blond girl is mine, and that the first man that even so much as LOOKS at her funny gets to swim back to shore," Sarik informed him.

"You're serious?" Eli questioned in an amused tone.

Sarik's unwavering stare was an answer all in itself.

"Ya, I'll do that for you," Eli told him as he turned to leave. "But she really is a keeper. You should take advantage of this while you can. It sucks to be alone."

Sarik popped the cover on his pistol holster, Eli soon strolling off briskly after catching the drift.

* * *

Sarik watched as the twenty year old man hit the water head first, a life preserver landing flat on the surface near the foaming bubbles that resulted from his impact.

Sarik had been nice. He'd first ensured that the carrier's motors were off. Then, he had made arrangements for one of the destroyers to send out a rescue boat, at least once the young pilot had covered a couple miles. Sarik had then lured him down the lower decks, only a couple dozen meters above the ocean surface, and ensured that the two of them were in private before knocking the man off balance, causing him to fall head over toe over the railing. Apparently, the pilot hadn't thought Sarik's threats were serious, because the grimace of honest surprise on his face as he flipped over the barrier was priceless.

Sarik shook his head as he watched the young man surface. No one seemed to have a respect for anyone, not at the high school or college ages. The only respect that he had from most of his pilots was the kind that was bought with money, the kind easily and quickly lost. And since the only respect Stella would be able to find was projected through him, that could be a problem, as she _was_ a young and fairly attractive girl. And if what Walters had said was true, then most of these guys probably thought that they actually had a chance with her.

"I better not find you on my carrier anytime soon!" Sarik warned the pilot below him as the young man grasped the life preserver. Obviously, he now believed in Sarik's threats, because he immediately began paddling off towards Occaeco, the island barely visible in the moonlight.

* * *

Sarik strolled down the metal stairway and back into the galley, where dozens of the carrier's crew were currently eating and socializing. The young man forced himself into a poorly disguised concentration, soon making his way to one of the large tables at which Stella, Eli, and seemingly half of the men occupying the room were sitting. Sarik quickly berated himself for not having been a little more involved in Stella's choice of wear. Like the rest of her wardrobe, everything she had brought along with her were were _dresses_. Some of the less revealing ones, he had to admit, but dresses nonetheless, and more specifically, the kind a woman generally wore if she was planning on spending the day outside. And with Stella's figure, a barely noticeable military physique complimented by a distinctly feminine frame, that caused problems, especially considering that she was stuck on a carrier only two hundred meters in length with a crew of nearly one thousand members cramped aboard, eighty percent of them men under the age of twenty-five.

Sarik took his place to the right of Stella, where he had left his meal before having to deal with that troublemaker. While _she_ seemed mostly indifferent to the dozens of stares directed at her, Sarik's jealousy and protectiveness more than made up for both of them. As he finished his meal, he just couldn't take it anymore.

"Let's go, Stella," Sarik told her as he grabbed her arm and pulled her up from her seat.

Sarik guided Stella in front of him, most of the galley's occupants making no attempt to give them any semblance of space. Sarik released Stella and planted his elbow into the jaw of one of the pilots, a young man no older than nineteen, as his extended arm had come alarmingly close to Stella's rear end. A couple of light snickers from one of the tables confirmed the pervert's intentions.

As the man stumbled back, it seemed as if every occupant in the room had begun to involuntarily lean away from Sarik and Stella. The girl just stood there, staring at Sarik in a confused and slightly concerned manner. He didn't care. This needed to be dealt with.

"Hear me now, and hear me good," Sarik stated in a raised, agitated voice. "We will be boarding in the officer's section. Anyone I find who doesn't belong up there will be shot on sight, no warnings."

Sarik slowly glanced over the room from wall to wall, then turned back around, grabbing Stella's arm and taking his place by her side. He put his cold, hard composure on as he began perceiving stupid, childish remarks like, "He's finally gone over," and, "Little psycho, Mr. President?".

As they arrived at the top of the stairwell leading to the officer's level, Sarik finally relaxed. If this kept up, he'd have ulcers before he was twenty. And that would be a BIG problem. Extendeds didn't have medical complications as often as Naturals, but when they did, it seemed that it hit them ten times as hard as their predecessors. A little ulcer could kill him, even if it were treated, as an Extended's body was a lot harder to repair than a Natural's or Coordinator's. That's one of the reasons his parents had made the optimization of medical regeneratives a top priority, as there were a few Extended casualties early on from what normally would have been just a few weeks of taking it easy for a Natural.

"I'm sorry," Sarik told Stella as they neared her room, thankfully located near the edge of the bulkhead at an angular turn in the corridor.

"Why?" she asked quietly, looking over at him. From her facial expressions, Sarik knew she was asking, "Why did you do that?", not "Why are you sorry?"

"What those men were doing was...wrong," Sarik informed her. Better to keep it simple and blunt, rather than making it seem subjective. "You shouldn't let people treat or touch you like that."

"Like what?" Stella questioned innocently.

Sarik sighed. This was going to be harder than he thought. She truly had been raised in a very isolated environment.

"I'll explain it all to you another time," Sarik assured her as he began unbuckling his utility belt, hidden underneath his shirt. "But take this. If anyone but me comes into your room before morning, shoot them."

Sarik handed her the belt, unadorned but for a large holster that housed his forty-five. If anyone managed to make it past him tonight, and actually have enough bad intentions to go into her room, they would deserve to be killed. To ensure that Stella was adequately defended, Sarik had live, fragmenting full metal jacketed rounds loaded into the weapon, not the normal stun rounds that he lugged around SSI headquarters.

Though, most likely, anyone who tried sneaking up here would just be going through with some immature bet or dare, easily scared off. Most days, Sarik would find his male compatriots' actions to be amusing, but not this one. Their stupidity was starting to become a royal pain in the ass.

Stella stared at the holster for a moment, then looked back up at Sarik. Though she wasn't smiling, her slightly gaping expression projected some of the joy she seemed to be feeling from actually having received something from someone here. She then stared back down at the weapon, and a look that would accompany her professional tone well formed over her face.

"Yes, sir," Stella complied, her adult-like voice unnerving Sarik slightly.

Sarik looked down at her in concern, but quickly let it go. He wasn't so much unlike her even a couple years ago. In fact, in many ways, he still was like that. It was the only way he seemed to be able to protect himself.

Sarik put an arm around one of Stella's shoulders and pulled her towards him. He held her for a second before saying, "Good night."

Before she could respond, Sarik quickly moved away from Stella and walked over to her quarter's door, causing it to slide open. Sarik stood there, still and erect, until Stella began walking in. The girl kept eye contact with him until the last possible moment.

"Night," Stella whispered just before disappearing into her room, the door sliding closed behind her.

Sarik nodded once, though he knew the action was futile, as she couldn't see him.

As he walked into his room, located immediately next to Stella's, Sarik lightly planted his head on the wall next to the door and held it there. He had now intentionally embraced both of the women he loved. No wonder Amelia was getting the wrong idea. He just didn't think of _either_ of them like that. Friends, siblings, that was what he kept telling himself.

As Sarik popped his gun case open, he questioned that. DID he just think of them like that? That was what he had told himself all of these years, but based on his actions and moods over the last couple weeks, was that the case? According to Sarah, he was acting different. Had he been? He didn't think so, but things did seem better whenever Stella was around. But that could just be the satisfaction of seeing her happy, couldn't it? It didn't mean that he felt for her as a lover or anything.

Sarik quelled his thoughts for the millionth time that day and concentrated on twisting the silencer onto the barrel on shotgun, effectively doubling its length. He remembered that someone had once made the comment to him that it was essentially pointless to silence a shotgun. Obviously, that individual hadn't been in his unique life circumstances.

Sarik returned to the hallway, which was quite dark now, carrying the shotgun and loading a shell into it. He decided against equipping it with live ammunition this time, instead using a refined version of rock salt shot. This particular round was still loaded with sodium-based crystals, though the compound was far more dense than traditional sodium chloride. But what made them most effective was their function. The near-microscopic crystals were literally shaped like tiny darts, and they would penetrate the skin at short ranges, many of them eventually settling into the actual bloodstream of the victim. During the ten or so seconds that it took them to dissolve under the skin, the flechettes would cause an agonizing amount of pain to the target. If the person shot didn't pass out, he certainly wouldn't be coming back for more.

Sarik set his weapon in the corner of the corridor, the barrel pointed up. He knew that this was a poor way to store the weapon, but he would only be gone for a few seconds. No one would have the time to find it here in the dark, and it wasn't likely to get up and act stupid on its own.

Sarik continued up the short corridor until he located the officer's lounge. As he walked in, a few men several years Sarik's senior, all of them sitting around a low-set table on which set several maps and initially unidentifiable devices set, glared up at him, as if he had barged in on something important.

"Carry on," Sarik said as he located the object he was searching for.

"As I was saying..." the man in charge started, still staring at Sarik. He stopped in mid-sentence, however, as Sarik began dragging a small lounging chair out of the room, the legs creating a low-pitch scratching sound that was most annoying. The room's occupants didn't start back up until Sarik had completely left the range of their curious glances.

The determined young man forced the chair into the corner of the corridor, then picked up his shotgun and braced it on the furniture's arms. After going over a mental checklist to ensure that he was completely situated, Sarik closed his eyes and tried to relax, as he had a long night ahead of him.

* * *

Sarik awoke as he felt something poking him in the arm in a most persistent and annoying manner. He opened his eyes and immediately spotted Amelia, clothed in a aquamarine blue flight suit.

"Been target shooting?" she questioned in an amused tone as she returned to standing erect over him.

Sarik glanced at his watch, then surveyed the floor on which he was currently sprawled. At least ten shotgun shells littered the metal deck.

"Something like that," he replied. The truth was, all but two of the night's various delinquents had gone running with their tails between their legs from the sound of the shotgun being pumped. Only two had been either brave or stupid enough to continue their advance after his initial warning. In a sense, those _boys_ didn't even have tails left. "You're here a bit early, don't you think? It's five in the morning."

"I figured I should take the time to survey my competition," Amelia told Sarik. "Which currently consists of twenty Spearheads, twelve Infestus fighters, three Skygraspers, and your Windslider."

"Anyone could have discovered that by looking at the carrier's vehicle roster," Sarik stated as he moved into a crouch. "Tell me who among the pilots would be a threat to you."

"No one, right now," Amelia remarked in intentional haughtiness as she smirked. "But I would have to say, were I piloting a lesser mobile suit, Commander Garza."

"Why, you insult me, Amelia," Sarik teased. "Me? Not dangerous?"

"You won't land a shot on me," Amelia remarked.

"We'll see," Sarik challenged in a light mood. "I assume this means that you've forgiven me?"

Instantly, Amelia's entire composure changed, going from cheery and slightly excited to dark and depressed.

"I meant what I said," she informed Sarik. "Don't expect anything extra out of me for a while. But I already agreed to help you. It's my obligation to follow through with that."

"Look, I'm sorr..." Sarik started as he began to stand, extending a hand out to Amelia, but was pushed back down by her, causing him to fall into the chair.

"Keep your distance," she suggested. "We need to let time deal with this."

Sarik looked up at Amelia with a pleading, hurt gleam in his eyes, but quickly quelled it when he realized that he was doing it. She was right, and finally going about this semi-intelligently. Time would have to heal this. Even though she knew intellectually what was truly going on between him and Stella, her emotions still told her different. She could try to rationalize all she wanted, but in the end, she would always break. The human mind tended to work like that, especially in teenagers.

"Very well," Sarik agreed as he stood, this time grasping his weapon. "But can we still talk like friends?"

"Fine," Amelia agreed.

Sarik grabbed the shotgun that was braced against the wall, then scooped the used and unused shotgun shells. Wouldn't do him any good to leave them lying around. He would look like a psycho even more than he already did.

"So, is the GuIAZ all that it's supposed to be?" Sarik questioned as he pumped the shotgun, ensuring it was empty, and began unscrewing the silencer..

"That, and a little more," Amelia informed him. "Which might be a problem, considering that it only uses a conventional power supply."

"Unfortunately, the GuIAZ Experimental Firearms Type was designed to merely be a testbed for the Freedom and Justice's weaponry," Sarik stated as the door to his quarters slid open, allowing him to walk inside. "We've been attempting to convert the Mod 0 to run on a nuclear reactor and neutron jammer canceler package, but in doing so, we've run into a number of complications that have so far prevented us from doing so. Until we find a way around these obstacles, you'll just have to use a little discretion."

"You didn't seem to have a problem with YOUR machines," Amelia remarked.

"MY machines were built from scratch," Sarik reminded the girl as he placed his shotgun and silencer back inside of their case and sealed it shut. "We were able to easily adapt the designs as we constructed them. Trying to modify an already existing frame is an entirely different story."

"So why can't I pilot one of those machines?" Amelia questioned. "I would be more effective in them."

"No, you wouldn't," Sarik informed her. "Their designs don't fit into your fighting style. No matter what kind of modifications you did to them, you wouldn't be comfortable flying them. It would be like shoving a knife in a sniper's hands and asking him to fight a battle just like that."

"I am quite handy with a knife," Amelia reminded Sarik.

"I think you know what I'm talking about," Sarik speculated.

Amelia remained silent for a moment, staring at Sarik with crossed arms as he placed his shotgun and its components back into his gun case.

"Yes, I do," she admitted. "I still wouldn't mind an unlimited power supply."

"If you move fast enough, you won't need one," Sarik told her as he sealed the case. "The weapons on the Firearms Type would allow you to go head to head with mobile suits comparable to the Freedom and Justice. For a short period, anyway."

"I'll leave that to you," Amelia remarked. "You're the one who likes fighting up close."

"How about I hold them while you shoot them?" Sarik suggested as he walked towards the exit, which Amelia was currently blocking.

"Sounds like a plan," Amelia replied sarcastically as she moved out of his way. Doing something like that would most likely result in the destruction of both mobile suits, due to the penetrating and flat out destructive nature of particle beam, linear, and impulse-based weaponry.

"Would you like to have breakfast with me?" Sarik almost sighed from the hallway, abruptly changing the subject. "I won't be able to get back to sleep, and almost no one is up right now."

"That would be nice," Amelia told him.

"Then lets..."Sarik started, but was interrupted by the sound of a sliding door. Stella's.

Stella poked her head out of her quarters, spotting Sarik and Amelia. As if she permeated the most foul of stenches, Amelia glared at the other girl before she walked off, barging quite noticeably down the stairs to the carrier's lower decks in a most immature fashion.

Sarik sighed as he looked over at Stella, who appeared to be extremely confused. Her innocent expression implied that she still didn't fully understand what was going on. Nor would she, unless Amelia came out and confronted her in a rational manner.

"Everything's fine," Sarik told Stella. "Go back to bed."

But instead of retreating back into her quarters, Stella exited them and walked towards Sarik, carrying his belt and holster. She wasn't in one of the several night gowns that Sarah had packed for her, but one of her dresses. Apparently, Stella was up for good.

"Thank you," Sarik sighed unenthusiastically as he took back his valued possession and returned it to its appropriate place around his waist.

Stella clasped her hands behind her back like before, but this time, rather than an expression of curiosity, indifference, it was one of satisfaction, of happiness. She had appreciated Sarik's protectiveness of her, but now that she no longer needed the weapon, Stella was even happier to be able to give it back. Or so Sarik figured. With an Extended, one could never be _completely_ sure from their body language alone. Too much went through their minds at any given second.

"So, would _you_ like to eat breakfast with me?" Sarik asked Stella enthusiastically, already knowing the answer.

Stella simply smiled and took her place at Sarik's right hand side, grasping his arm with both of hers.

* * *

Sarik looked over the Windslider one last time. Everything was perfect, as far as he could tell. The Launcher Striker's installation had gone without a hitch, and it seemed as if all of the parts melded perfectly with the fighter's fuselage, as Sarik had intended when he modified it to accept such parts. On the Windslider, the order of the Striker's configuration was a bit different than when installed on the Skygrasper. Though the Agni impulse cannon remained in a forward position, the weapon lay along the upper half of the fuselage, protruding out over the cockpit. The weapon pod had actually been modified from the original versions used on the Strike and the Dagger series based off of it, all of its parts now modular and separable. The wings built onto it served little purpose when mounted on a fighter, thus those had been removed. The weapons, a 120mm anti-ship Vulcan cannon and a pair of 350mm gun launchers, were separated each into their own individual modules, the Vulcan gun mounted underneath the Windslider's nose, while the projectile cannons were mounted underneath the wings, at the junction where the airfoils were connected to the fuselage. Together with the built in weaponry, the Striker pack literally made the Windslider into a flying battleship, a craft as heavily armed as some of the water-based crafts.

Luckily, today the only shots that would be fired were dummy machine gun rounds, paint missiles, and beam weaponry tuned down so low that they couldn't singe the hair off of a person's head. Of course, no one would be trying that particular stunt this fine day to test out the validity of the relatively common remark.

Sarik glanced around towards the mobile suit portion of the hangar, trying to locate Amelia. Though he could clearly see the GuIAZ from here, he had yet to spot the blond-haired girl since their encounter this morning. He had a funny feeling that she was intentionally avoiding him.

Something banged behind Sarik, and he spun around, prepared to take on anything or anyone. It turned out to just be Stella, having bumped into some lazy mechanic's tool box.

"So you're coming?" Sarik questioned. He had discussed it earlier with her, and the seriousness of the situation. Considering her ex-military background, he figured that she understood everything about this, at least.

"Yes," Stella told him, her voice still relaxed, but a confidence behind it that was stronger than normal.

"Then would you like to fly?" Sarik offered. Since he would be acting as one of the flight leaders and the fighter wing's strategist, it would be easier for him to operate as the co-pilot, anyway.

Stella stared at him, though surprised or amused, he couldn't tell. The expression was soon replaced by one of gratefulness as Stella nodded her head.

"Well, hurry up and get on board, then," Sarik told her. "I'm right behind you."

As Stella began climbing the ladder to the maintenance platform, Sarik walked off towards the mobile suit section of the hangar. They were all due to take off soon, so Amelia couldn't avoid him for long. He wasn't going to prod anymore about Stella, but he needed to know that his friend wasn't going to try to shoot them down, or pull some other stupid stunt. She had done spontaneous things like that before, though, luckily, never directed towards him. But his experience in life told him that things like that could change very quickly.

As Sarik approached the GuIAZ's dock and maintenance area, he still couldn't spot his friend. There were a number of mechanics milling about, though only a couple of them seemed to have any interest in the GuIAZ. They were probably more concerned with the Jet Daggers and GINNs that dominated this portion of the carrier's internal hangar.

After spending nearly two minutes searching for Amelia, Sarik began turning about to return to the Windslider. It was then that a he caught a glimpse of blue moving towards the GuIAZ. Sarik rushed after it, the glimpse soon revealing itself to be Amelia.

"Amelia!" Sarik yelled, but she obviously couldn't hear him over all of the racket, as she didn't so much as twitch at the sound of her name. "Amelia!"

The girl continued on to the GuIAZ, stepping into the maintenance elevator and activating it, the device beginning its ascent towards the mobile suit's cockpit.

"AMELIA!" Sarik bellowed as he grew closer, finally catching her attention.

"What the hell do you want?" Amelia yelled back as she looked down at him.

"Stella is piloting," Sarik informed her, emphasizing each word. "Please go easy on her."

Amelia's expression went from sour to confident, a most mischievous smirk dominating her face.

"Kiss me, and I'll think about it," she replied jokingly.

"Fat chance!" Sarik told her in an equally playful fashion.

"Then I wish you two the best of luck," Amelia said before walking into her machine, her posture that of amusement, not anger. From the way she was acting, she'd calmed down at least a little.

Sarik stood there for a moment, staring at the empty space that Amelia had been occupying. Best of luck? Was she referring to the two of them as pilots or as partners? Sarik quelled the notion. Of course she meant pilots. He was just getting overly sensitive.

After a few more seconds of staring, Sarik began the process of returning to the Windslider, which, to his surprise, was already powered up. Stella really was a fast learner. He just hoped he wouldn't have to go in and reconstruct the OS after today. While the task was not particularly daunting for him, it was tedious and time consuming.

Sarik climbed aboard the fighter, taking his place in the high-set co-pilot's chair, providing him with a good view of his surroundings while not impeding Stella's field of vision. Sarik buckled in and went about starting up a number of systems that worked most effective under the co-pilot's control, such as radar operation and the new TacStar system. In addition, he could also assist with firing the weapons and target acquisition, lightening the pilot's burden.

"How's everything on your end?" Sarik asked as he activated his and Stella's suit's communication devices.

"All systems are operating within acceptable parameters," Stella informed him almost in an almost computer-like tone. "We are ready for launch."

Sarik shook his head once more, mostly at himself. Every time she changed like that, he was surprised, and maybe a little concerned. But there was no harm about being able to go from childish to determined and serious when going into a combat situation. It was a trait most soldiers didn't develop until someone close to them got blown to bits. Sarik could see examples of this among a number of his ex-military pilots, and their resulting disdain for the amateurs pilots who, most of the time, acted like kids, being between the ages of eighteen and twenty-five.

"This is Intercept One to _Somestraba_ air control," Sarik reported to the carrier. "We are prepared to take off. Please relay launch instructions."

"This is control," replied a young man's voice over the radio. "Please board elevator five."

"Stella?" Sarik asked, to make sure she had received the instructions.

"Orders acknowledged," she informed Sarik, and slowly eased the Windslider's power up, causing the fighter to slowly roll forward. The craft soon joined a pair of Skygraspers and an Infestus fighter on the massive elevator, which began its slow ascension once as they were safely locked into it.

Sarik squinted as the lift carried them above ground, blinding him under the gaze of the sun in its greatest intensity. However, his suit's visor quickly compensated for it, the tint darkening until the environment around him became legible.

"Intercept One, please taxi to pad B-5 and await further orders," the air controller relayed to Sarik.

"Roger that," he complied. "You get that Stella?"

Sarik's only answer was the fighter lurching slightly forward, soon expertly parked behind one of the large lines of fighters setting idly on the carrier's main runway.

Sarik glanced off towards the carrier's edge as he felt a slight rumble shake the fighter, four Jet Daggers soon visible speeding through the air towards the empty horizon, having launched from the bays in the side of the _Somestraba_.

Another quake soon overtook the Windslider, this one much more powerful than the last, as three more mobile suits shot out from the _Somestraba_'s side launch bays. One was Amelia's GuIAZ, the Experimental Firearms Type Mod 0, which contained features from both the Freedom and Justice Gundams used in the last war. One such a feature was the Justice's flight pack, which could be mounted on the GuIAZ's back or stood on like a platform. Each configuration had its own advantages, considering the amount of weaponry built into the module alone.

The two machines escorting Amelia's GuIAZ were GINNs, heavily modified versions of the Reconnaissance Type. They were a variant exclusively produced by SSI, dubbed the Tactical Aerial Attack, or TAA, Type. They moved even faster than their predecessors in regard to speed, and were more heavily armed, equipped with a weaker variant of the "Lapus" beam rifle used by the Freedom and Justice Gundams, a 175mm grenade launcher like that from a Dagger's beam rifle attached underneath for good measure. The mobile unit also sported a set of multi-missile launchers attached to its legs, each able of unleashing a single missile barrage capable of wiping out several unaware fighters at once. A pair of 120mm anti-ship Vulcan cannons could also be attached to the shoulders if their was a need for heavy weaponry, but because of the nature of the exercise, the GINNS were not equipped as such, primarily due to the fact that ZAFT neither used such weaponry, nor would they encumber their air combat mobile suits in such a fashion, as speed and maneuverability were often the deciding factors in an aerial dogfight.

"This is control to Intercept One," the air controller's voice reported a few minutes later. "The attack team has reported that they're in position. You are the first marked for take-off, so please do so with all haste."

"Roger that," Sarik complied. "We are moving onto the runway."

Without a word, Stella maneuvered the fighter off of the parking pad and onto the main launch strip, lining the Windslider up with the catapult at the end of the runway. Sarik kept a close eye on his instruments, especially on how much power Stella was putting into the engines. An instant later, the fighter lurched forward in acceleration.

"Sarik Ostheim, Windslider, engaging!" Sarik reported shortly before the fighter hit the catapult, launching it high into the air.

"Stella, follow the course I'm marking at five hundred knots," Sarik ordered as he began operating the TacStar. "Give everyone else a chance to catch up."

"Roger that," she complied, reducing the power to the Windslider's engines.

A few moments later, Sarik glanced around the Windslider, completely satisfied. In about a minute, the carrier crews and the pilots managed to get all of the fighter craft into the air and into proper formation. An impressive feat, for an entire wing.

"This is Intercept One," Sarik reported over the air group's channel. "I want the Infestus squadron to split in half and take up positions to the rear and sides of the attack group. You guys will move in and flank the enemy after the initial shots take place, since you lack missile weaponry."

Sarik began directing the force to the positions that he desired them to be in, but operating the TacStar was a lot of work to do by hand, one of the reasons he was trying to have a neuro-link operated version created for his use. As of now, he had somehow directed three of the fighters to take point, while the rest were flying at seemingly random locations throughout the air group. It would be impossible to for him to operate it while flying a mobile suit, much less correct any errors.

"Everyone in Spearheads, continue in your present formation," Sarik ordered after properly organizing the Infestus squadron. "When we're at maximum effective range, I want each of you to launch two missiles, followed by two more approximately two seconds later."

Sarik continued directing the air group via the TacStar despite the complaints he received over the radio from his less restrained pilots, both about his choice of tactics and his organizational skills. Everyone was here to learn. Not only did Sarik have to figure out what strategies and tactics worked and didn't work, but his pilots had to learn how to improvise when their commanders weren't necessarily up to par. And since most of these pilots had yet to experience a taste of actual combat, some good old fashioned dogfighting wasn't going to kill them, either. In this case, anyway.

"Skygraspers, I want you to take a high-altitude approach with the Windslider at point," Sarik relayed verbally as he input the formation and operational information into the TacStar. "We'll hang back a few hundred meters, then dive in with our heavy weapons as the first waves of missiles are let loose."

"So, what, your lives are worth more than my mens'?" Sarik heard one of the element leaders complain. He didn't reply. He would allow the nature of the strategy reveal itself on its own.

"Everyone just hold formation," Sarik ordered as Stella put the Windslider into a climb. Simultaneously, several blips appeared on his radar. Sarik stared at it for a moment, calculating the incoming objects' speeds. "We'll be in range in thirty."

Sarik pulled up the fighter's diagnostics and did a final check on the components, tweaking the power supplies and computer systems one last time. The _Somestraba_'s battle computer was being transmitted every last systematic detail by each fighter and mobile suit in this combat simulation, including even the smallest bit of alteration or change into its calculations. Even the smallest part that Sarik could optimize counted.

"Get ready, contact in five," Sarik reported, readying the TacStar. Things were about to go to hell.

"Fire!" Sarik heard the Spearhead squadron's leader yell, soon followed by dozens of missile launch contacts on the Windslider's radar. Sarik was impressed when the Infestus Squadron's halves flanked around the Spearheads, charging at the mobile suits from the sides, just as they were being instructed by the TacStar.

Sarik involuntarily grabbed onto the sides of his seat as Stella let out a near-savage yell and pulled the fighter into a vertical climb, only to flip it end over end a second later. Her yell grew even louder as she pushed the engines and opened fire with the entirety of the Windslider's primary weaponry, filling the air with machine gun, autocannon, particle beam, and impulse fire, hitting at least two of the Jet Daggers in the process.

Over the last two years, Sarik had reconfigured the Windslider multiple times to fulfill the various and often changing needs that he had for it. As of the last modification, the integral weaponry consisted of the standard compliment of missiles, four 12.7mm machine guns in the nose of the fighter, a pair of 20mm cannons located a meter out in the wings, a 50mm high-explosive launcher immediately behind the cockpit, just underneath where the Agni was currently installed, and a pair of 67mm beam cannons located adjacent to where the gun launchers were currently mounted, on the top of the wings. Altogether, these weapons allowed the Windslider to take on just about any opponent it could encounter in Earth's atmosphere, even high-end mobile suits, under the integral armaments' combined fire. The only problem was that mobile suits had the ability to maneuver pretty much in any direction that they wanted, while a fighter could only go where its nose was pointed. In addition to this, the Windslider sacrificed ammunition capacity for firepower in the instances of the projectile weaponry. These were challenges that not only Sarik faced, but also many of his pilots, as a pair 20mm cannons or a quad battery of 12.7mm machine guns didn't cut it against even mass-production mobile suits.

Each Spearhead entire fleet was in the process of being reequipped with a pair of rapid-fire 30mm guns in place of their standard cannons, with expensive armor-piercing missiles complimenting those, while the Infestus wings were being refitted with a 50mm high-explosive launcher and a pair of 40mm armor-penetrating cannons in place of their entire compliment. SSI engineers had worked out a way to preserve most of the fighters' speed and maneuverability while carrying these weapons, but unfortunately, that meant severely cutting back on the ammunition capacity. The fighters would have only a few minutes of effective sortie time in an all-out battle before they would have to resupply.

Sarik released his death grip on his seat as Stella leveled the fighter and jerked to the side, avoiding a missile launched from one of the GINNs. The weapon, persistent due to its advanced programming, tracked them, following the Windslider through even the most complex of maneuvers, moves that were impossible for most biological pilots to follow.

"Launching decoys!" Sarik informed Stella as he activated the countermeasure systems, dropping several heat flares and a pair of chaff charges which soon exploded into clouds of microscopic shrapnel. The missile avoided the flares, obviously locked onto the fighter via radar, but flew into the chaff clouds and exploded on contact, its sensors tricking it into believing that it was near a solid object.

"Stella, pull up thirty degrees and fire!" Sarik ordered after glancing at his radar.

Stella did so silently, unleashing the Agni as she leveled out half a second later. A grin of amusement formed on Sarik's masked face as one of the Dagger's radar signature turned yellow, indicating that it had "disappeared". Stella had just got the first kill for their team.

He couldn't say the first kill today, though, as a pair of the Infestus fighters and three Spearheads were currently "shot down". Nearly a sixth of their force was already gone for slightly less than that on the mobile suit team's part.

"All flights, regroup!" Sarik ordered while he watched from the Windslider's canopy as a pair of Spearheads chasing one of the GINNs were shot down by a Jet Dagger that had moved in behind them. "Stella, three missiles!"

Even though Sarik hadn't been clear on whom to target, Stella launched three of the homing weapons at the Dagger, correctly guessing to which enemy that Sarik had been referring to. The machine's pilot accelerated suddenly, avoiding two of the missiles, but one of the explosives managed to get within a meter of the mobile suit's chassis, its proximity sensors detonating it. A large, fluorescent red splotch now stained the Dagger's side, and the machine began flying erratically, simulating battle damage.

An alarm suddenly went off in the cockpit, Stella reacting to it by pulling the fighter up, followed immediately by an erratic, spinning dive down towards the ocean, which was kilometers below. Sarik glanced down at the radar and then up at the sky, trying to figure out where the enemy was coming from, but was unable determine the source of the lock-on alert.

After a few seconds of sudden silence, Stella pulled back up and rejoined the fight, where the fighter squadrons had finished the damaged Dagger, in addition to shooting down one of the GINNs on their own. However, the casualty count was nearly fifty percent, one of the Skygraspers among them. Something had to be done quickly, as Sarik's attempts at using the TacStar were just flat-out not working.

Then, it came to him. Amelia hadn't been at her mobile suit until the last couple of minutes before launch. Maybe she was doing something before then? Like learning the frequency of the fighter's radios?

"All fighters, scramble frequencies!" Sarik ordered.

Just as he was performing the action for his own craft, the lock-on alarm went off in the Windslider's cockpit again. Sarik managed to locate the perpetrator this time, glancing upwards to try and identify him visually.

"Stella, watch out!" Sarik yelled as he caught a glimpse of gold hiding in the sun's blinding rays.

Stella put the Windslider into a series of erratic maneuvers just before Amelia opened up, almost every one of the GuIAZ's primary weapons firing at once and filling the air with fire from beam cannons, rail guns, and machine guns. The Windslider managed to avoid the attack without much hassle, though a formation of three Spearheads was shot down in the withering barrage. The Mod 0 sped past the Windslider's cockpit, spraying the area with dummy 76mm rounds from the CIWS cannons in its head.

"Stella, ignore her-" Sarik started, but was quickly shut up as Stella let out a yell and pushed the fighter's engines to the max, pursuing the gold-colored mobile suit.

Sarik was impressed that Stella was able to keep up with Amelia's GuIAZ through the heat of the fight, especially in just a fighter, as even the outdated Daggers had more maneuverability than the Windslider.

However, Amelia was no fool, and one of the best, albeit inexperienced, pilots Sarik knew. She knew Stella was after her, and maneuvered about, bringing the Mod 0's beam rifle to bear on the Windslider.

Sella let out a yell as she unleashed a quick burst from the fighter's weapons and dove down, barely avoiding the GuIAZ's shot and cutting a few meters underneath the mobile suit's feet. Sarik was about to go back to working the TacStar when Stella pulled sharply to the right, literally slamming him into the side of the cockpit. He realized now that this had gone from a standard dogfight to something a bit more personal.

"Stella, don't...!" Sarik started again, but quickly gave in, as she was completely ignoring him, caught up in the heat of the moment. Stella let loose another barrage, clipping Amelia with some machine gun fire, but not causing enough damage for the carrier's computer to register anything. The GuIAZ Experimental Firearms Type was equipped with Phase Shift armor, making most low-caliber projectile weapons useless against it.

Amelia, however, let loose with all of the GuIAZ's machine gun weaponry, including those in the flight pack, filling the air with hundreds of dummy bullets, several smaller caliber rounds disintegrating on the Windslider's fuselage. Sarik could hear as the fighter's engines began to power down, a result of the damage that the _Somestraba_'s battle computer was simulating.

"You shot me?!" Stella exclaimed. Sarik glanced down at the girl, his helmet hiding his disdain. What did she think? Of course someone was trying to shoot her. It was a battle.

But, Sarik didn't even bother to try to change Stella's mind this time as she and Amelia charged at each other once more, exchanging even more fire, all the while the fighter and mobile suit squadrons darting around them, quickly whittling away at each other. There was going to have to be some major reorganization of the defense forces, because this was, for the most part, a bunch of armatures going at it against each other. If ZAFT had come in here with a just a single flight of ZAKUs or GOUFs, the SSI forces wouldn't stand a chance.

Sarik quickly snapped out of his thoughts as he felt the Windslider suddenly lurch as Stella was maneuvering it, while she was trying to find a vantage point from which she could fire on the GuIAZ. And not the kind of lurch that came from circling around and dodging weapons fire. This was out of her controlled pattern, out of place in her normally smooth movements.

"Dammit!" Stella yelled as Amelia took advantage of her momentary weakness to try to maneuver behind the Windslider.

But Stella corrected herself, moving in line once more with her rival's mobile suit. However, just before the fighter's weapons locked on, Stella jerked to the side once more, this time letting out an growl-like groan, the kind someone produced when they were trying not to yell in agony.

"Stella, we need to stop this now!" Sarik told her as he began to adjust the fighter's systems from his position in preparation for his takeover of piloting duties. "I'm calling it off."

"I'm fine!" Stella screamed painfully, forcing the Windslider into a near-vertical climb to meet Amelia head-on. The determined Extended managed to get a burst off before she lost complete control of the fighter.

"Stella!" Sarik yelled as she let out the most pained cry he had ever heard from her. There was definitely something wrong. Stella shouldn't have lost control of the Windslider like this. "Hold on!"

Sarik managed to swap the systems completely over despite the fact that he was being forced to one side of the cockpit, pulling the fighter out of its uncontrolled descent about half a kilometer above the ocean. Sarik locked onto the _Somestraba_'s location and pushed the Windslider's engines to the maximum after disabling the battle computer's simulations.

"This is Ostheim," Sarik said in relative calm over the two skirmishing force's general channel. "This morning's exercises have officially ended. All remaining craft, please return to base."

Sarik glanced over at one of the Windslider's monitors, this one reading the vital signs of him and Stella. Most military aircraft transmitted their pilots life signs to the mothership or airbase from which they launched so that the support crews could keep track of who was alive and who was not. And right now, Stella's vitals were on the edge of safe, her heart rate equivalent to that of someone who had just been shot, though it remained freakishly consistent. That made this situation potentially even worse.

"Just hang on!" Sarik encouraged. "We're almost there!"

Sarik glanced at the GPS. They really were almost there. Little less than a minute away.

"This is Ostheim to _Somestraba_ air control," Sarik reported. "I am coming in for an emergency landing. Please have maintenance and medical crews standing by."

"Roger that," the controller said. "Please touch down on landing strip three. And there will be a wait on that medical attention. We only have one doctor aboard."  
"What the hell..." Sarik said under his breath as he brought the fighter in for a landing. Whose bright idea was that?

But Sarik quelled his thoughts as he concentrated on his landing, extending the landing gear and hook. A standard landing was going to be faster, and for all he knew, Stella had minutes.

As Sarik touched down, he could feel the hook made latch onto one of the carrier's wires. He quickly gunned the fighter's engines, toning them back when he was completely sure that the Windslider was securely caught, unable to move forward any further. Sarik completely powered down the fighter and waited for the maintenance crews to rush in a platform before popping the canopy.

Sarik yanked his helmet off and tossed it into the Windslider's seat as he jumped out onto the portable catwalk, running the meter to the front of the cockpit. Sarik detached Stella's helmet and quickly lifted it off of her head, her heavy breathing now noticeable. As he unbuckled her from the chair, he took note of the way she held herself, her hands clasped around her stomach as she curled up into a fetal position.

Sarik lifted Stella out of the Windslider, cradling her in his arms as he carried her towards one of the carrier's entrances. Normally, he couldn't do this AND run, but adrenaline was playing its part. Just another reason to question his own perceptions of his feelings towards Stella.

As Sarik entered one of the elevators bound for the central deck, the young man began to panic. Not only did he not know if Stella's breathing growing slower was a good or bad thing, but now, in addition to that, she was sweaty and feverish, her forehead taking on a slightly red hue. He had to get her help, and fast.

Sarik was already running by the time the elevator doors were sliding open, desperately trying to locate the infirmary. Two corridors later, Sarik finally found it and barged in, only to find that it was completely unoccupied.

Sarik carried Stella inside and set her down on one of the cots, then began searching for a terminal, a phone, something. He quickly located a small communications panel on a wall deeper in the chamber and immediately keyed in to the bridge, the screen soon dominated by the figure of a middle-aged man with salt-and-pepper colored hair.

"What is it?" the man asked. "This better not be another prank call."

Sarik shook his head internally. Where the hell was the discipline? This was supposed to be a private army, not some criminal's lackey-based security force.

"This is Ostheim," Sarik informed him in an insulted but calm tone, letting his normal composure fall over him. "I'm in the infirmary at the moment, which is currently quite empty. Where in the hell is the medical crew?"

"Well, we only have on doctor assigned to us right now," the man before Sarik told him. "I can send her your way, if you'd like, sir."

"Inform her its a life and death situation," Sarik ordered emotionlessly. For her, he wanted to add, but he knew that it would be both pointless and destructive if he acted that way right now.

"She'll be down there within ten minutes," the man assured him before cutting off the transmission.

Sarik sighed. He had to get things like this fixed, and fast. This kind of disorganization would result in the loss of many, if not all, of his soldiers' lives if the war made its way to the Orb homeland.

Remembering the entire reason he was here, Sarik walked briskly back to Stella's cot, observing her posture and symptoms as he did. She was trying to curl up into a ball again, her arms around her legs as she lay on her side. When he put a hand to Stella's forehead to estimate her temperature, she seemed to be unable or unwilling to respond to the external stimulus. Her face was burning up, a heavy blush starting to form on her cheeks.

Sarik quickly realized that she was still stuck inside of that flight suit. If he could get that off, it might help with her temperature a little, considering that it was designed to hold in heat for use in the cold environments that accompanied high-altitude and space flight. Sarik began stripping the thick garment off of Stella's body, having to force her arms apart in order to do so. Even while he did that, she seemed to remain unaware of what was happening to her, almost completely unresponsive but for her arms reflexively forcing themselves towards her body.

As he almost had her suit completely off, Sarik's eyes grew wide as he realized that blood stained the entire lower half of the white, knee-length slip that Stella was wearing underneath the suit. He grew even more concerned, because some of the things that Walters had said after the little "incident" a few days back implied that this shouldn't be happening now, nor to this extent.

Sarik tossed the bloodied flight suit off of the end of the cot and moved back into the infirmary, searching for where they stored the medicine. They had to have painkillers around here somewhere. Morphine was doubtful, but there had to be others that would work.

As Sarik finally located what he thought to be a medicine cabinet, the infirmary doors slid open, a red-haired woman about Sarik's height walking in.

"What the hell took you so long?" Sarik inquired bluntly as he returned to the front of the infirmary.

"What were you doing?" the doctor questioned pompously as she walked towards the back of the infirmary. Sarik balled one of his hands into a fist. She was more concerned about some stupid medicine when she had a patient in pain?

"Miss, I have someone for you to look at," Sarik told the doctor in relative calm. "She's in a lot of pain. Would you please come over and look at her?"

The woman opened one of the medicine cabinets and began sorting through its contents, her mouthing implying that she was counting.

"Doctor!" Sarik yelled. "We need you now!"

The woman continued counting out the medicine before turning her attention to Sarik.

"Had to make sure you didn't take anything," she told Sarik. "Now what seems to be the problem?"

"She's bleeding, bad," Sarik informed the woman with an aggravated growl.

The doctor returned to the front of the infirmary, walking towards Stella's cot. She glanced over her once, then turned towards Sarik.

"Period," she told Sarik without so much as slightly bending her hips to get a better look at Stella.

"I figured that, but this bad?" Sarik questioned.

"Some are worse than others," the doctor told him as she shrugged. "I can get her some medication to help with the pain a little. That's all I would be allowed to prescribe."

"But she shouldn't even be having this," Sarik informed her as she strolled lazily towards the medicine cabinet.

"And you would know this, how?" the doctor inquired as she opened one of the doors and dug out a medicine bottle.

"That's none of your business," Sarik told her calmly.

"Sure it isn't," she remarked sarcastically as she handed him the container. "Now she can take one of these every six hours. Make sure she stays clean, and come back in a few days if her symptoms haven't settled down."

"Come back?" Sarik questioned angrily.

"Yes," the doctor said. "I have several patients on their way here from a training exercise. I need you to get her out of here before then."

Sarik stared at the woman in utter amazement. Not only was she acting like a a complete bitch, but she didn't even remotely take into consideration of her individual patients problems or needs. Did she really expect him, a guy, to be able to take care of this?

"Get out," Sarik told her, letting his cold, no-nonsense composure fall over him.

"Excuse me?" the doctor almost laughed.

"Get out of this infirmary, now," Sarik ordered her, a bit more forceful this time.

"Who do you think you are?" the woman inquired.

"Sarik Ostheim, President and CEO of Silver Shield Incorporated," Sarik informed her arrogantly. "As of now, you are no longer under my employ. You are to vacate this ship and all SSI facilities within the next twenty-four hours."

"I think we need to make a call to the..." the woman started as she began walking towards the comm unit.

But she never had a chance to finish, as Sarik had his knife drawn and stuck it to the wall, his arm impeding the doctor's progress.

"Get the hell off my ship!" Sarik yelled forcefully. "Now!"

The woman slowly backed away, raising her hands slightly. Sarik continued to glare at her from that position until the door slid shut.

Sarik sighed in between one of his pants as he sheathed his knife. He really was crazy, wasn't he?

* * *

"So you're trying to tell me that this is all the result of the regeneratives?" Sarik questioned from his position on the cot next to Stella as he held her. In the two hours he and Stella had been here, Sarik had managed to get the crew to set up an entire portable comm center set up in the infirmary, forty centimeter screen included. On the other end was Doctor Walters and Sarah, both currently sitting in their private quarters.

"Well, from the information I have here and the symptoms you're describing to me, that's the only possible thing I can think of," Walters informed as he flipped through the paper files that he held. "The regeneratives accelerate the rate of one's metabolism by several times for a few hours in order to increase their healing capacity. Apparently, Stella's consistent therapy has caused parts of her internal anatomy to regenerate when they weren't supposed to, if you catch my drift. It just happened to be bad timing on your part to take her out today."

"So this was going to happen, anyway?" Sarik asked.

"Most likely, yes, though not to this extent" Walters replied. "If stress hadn't started this, this might not be affecting her as badly. Though I couldn't properly say. Female anatomy isn't exactly my specialization."

Sarik sighed, then glanced over at Stella, who was staring up at him from her curled-up position on her side, her head resting on his left leg. Under Walters supervision, he had medicated Stella with several compounds in order to help reduce the severity of her symptoms. Though the fever was gone and the bleeding under relative control, it did little to end the girl's pain, and she still couldn't move very much. However, as of the past hour, Stella had grown conscious enough to be able to perceive her surroundings and interact with them as much as her body would allow.

"So, can one of you come over here to help out?" Sarik inquired.

"I couldn't be out there for another day," Sarah informed Sarik. "Sorry."

"And I'm having to deal with a number of problems here," Walters told him.

"So who would you suggest I get to help me out with...?" Sarik asked, unable to finish his sentence.

"Amelia is still over there, isn't she?" Sarah inquired after a few seconds of thought. "Why not ask her?"

"I don't think that's an option," Sarik replied.

"Well, it looks like you'll have to do it yourself, then," Sarah informed him.

Sarik sighed once more. The day was just getting better and better, wasn't it?

"Thanks anyway, guys," Sarik told them. "I'm signing off now."

"Bye," Sarah told him.

"See ya," Walters said.

Sarik bumped his head against the wall behind the cot as he reached over and hit the comm's power button. How was he going to do this? He'd cleaned up what his squeamishness would allow, but he just flat out wasn't comfortable around women, at least in respect to things that exclusively involved women. And his entire dilemma with Stella, compounded by the events a couple days ago, just made everything worse.

"Sarik," Stella muttered.

Sarik glanced down over at her to find that she had a had one of her hands outstretched across his lap. Sarik took her hand in one of his and stroked her hair with the other. He had to help her through this, without condition, just as he would Amelia, or Aaron, the twins, or any of his other friends. He would just have to grow a pair.

"Stella, I'm going to go get some things," Sarik informed Stella. "Will you be fine on your own for a little while?"

Stella stared at him for a moment, then nodded her head. Sarik bent over and put his head to hers, closing his eyes as they made contact. He HAD to do this.

"I'll be back quick," Sarik whispered to her before shifting a pillow underneath her head as he climbed to his feet. Sarik glanced back at her one more time before moving briskly towards the exit.

As Sarik was locking the infirmary behind him, he spotted Amelia, now dressed in civilian clothes, standing down the corridor, staring down at the ground. Had she been here this entire time, he wondered, or was this just a coincidence?

As Sarik made a step towards Amelia, she looked up at him, then began turning in the opposite direction.

"Amelia, please wait," Sarik pleaded softly.

The girl stopped mid-turn, her expression showing confusion. Apparently, he'd made himself sound desperate enough. As desperate as he truly was.

"What?" Amelia questioned impatiently.

"Would you please help me out?" he asked.

"Why?" Amelia inquired.

Sarik looked up at the ceiling for a moment, then went about explaining the entire situation to the teenage woman. She seemed to be taking it pretty well, considering her mood yesterday.

"You really care about her, don't you?" Amelia asked rhetorically.

"You know I would be the same if it were you," Sarik told her. "I hate to see either of you in pain."

Amelia stared back down at the floor for a moment, deep in thought. Sarik feared what would happen if she thought for too long. Would she come to hate him or Stella even more? Would she come to a point where she would just flat-out leave, never to be seen again by anyone?

"I'll help you," Amelia said emotionlessly. "On one condition."

"Anything," Sarik told her. And he meant it.

Amelia looked up at him, her stare so intense that right then, Sarik had a pretty good idea of what she wanted.

"Kiss me," she almost whispered.

Sarik stared back down at her for a moment, a thousand thoughts going off in his head at once. But at this point, he basically had to. He needed Amelia's help, because even IF he could get past his initial squeamishness, Sarik still didn't know the first thing about caring for a girl in Stella's circumstances. Most men probably didn't.

Sarik reached a hand behind Amelia's head and leaned over. He held her like that for a moment, hesitating, but tried to build up enough courage. A warrior and corporate billionaire, and yet he still couldn't find the guts to kiss a girl that he cared for.

Sarik leaned over even more and planted a long kiss on Amelia's forehead.

Sarik released the girl, who stared back up at him. They both stood like that for nearly a full minute in silence.

"Thank you," Amelia finally said, running a hand along the side of her head.

"What?" Sarik questioned, confused.

"Thank you," she told him. "I needed that."

Sarik stared at her curiously for a moment. He hadn't given what she wanted, had he?

"But I thought you said..." Sarik started.

"I just said a kiss," Amelia reminded him, putting up a hand as if she were motioning for him to halt. "We'll leave it at that. I didn't think I'd get even this out of you, as stubborn as you are."

Sarik's expression went from that of curiosity to disdain in an instant. Few appreciated it when they were wrongfully accused of something, him especially. But, there was time to repair his damaged pride later.

"Thank you," Sarik told Amelia. "You don't know how much I appreciate this."

"Just for the record, this doesn't mean I like Stella," Amelia informed him. "And you really do need to get used to doing stuff like this. There won't always be another woman around to help you out if something like this happens again."

Sarik sighed, smiling slightly. She just didn't get it, did she? Actually, she didn't get two things, but that was besides the point.

"I know, I know," he assured. "Let's just go get her things."

Amelia smiled, then grabbed onto Sarik's right arm in a similar fashion to Stella. He mentally shook his head as they began moving towards the elevators. Was this going to become a regular occurrence with these two?


	23. Chapter 22

**CE 65**

Sarik followed Sarah through the entrance of the unimpressive building, still unsure of what to think of this entire situation. All that she had told him yesterday while she was collecting him from school was that he wouldn't be coming back for a few weeks. While he hadn't been particularly thrilled about the sudden change in his newly established routine, he went along without complaint, since realistically, it would have done him little good.

Even now, Sarik was still unsure in which country he was. From the time and direction that the plane had traveled, he figured that they were somewhere in the Pacific, due to the fact that they had been in the air too long to have landed anywhere in Eurasia, but too short of time to have made it to the territories of the Atlantic Federation. Sarik's best guess would have been either the Orb or Oceanic Unions, due to the fact that they both had a relatively small Blue Cosmos presence, though that could also be said for most of the Pacific island nations. It seemed that his father was trying to avoid such sectors of the world as of late, which was most likely due to the fact that he had authorized that raid on their desert facility in Africa a couple months ago. It could be said that they were infamous for the grudges that they held, to say the least.

Sarik glanced around the lobby of the facility, trying to determine the building's function. Its configuration was similar to that of a high-end private clinic, or perhaps a conference center. He could have been fooled into believing it was either of the two but for the ridiculous amount of security. While only four normal looking security guards stood at symmetrical locations throughout the chamber, Sarik managed to discern enough security cameras to ensure complete identification of anyone moving around the room. In addition to this, there were several doors along the edge of the lobby which appeared to have no logical function, based on what Sarik had observed from outside of the structure. Most likely, one or two heavily armed and armored mercenaries sat on the other side, ready to rush out and defend the building should it come under attack. This meant that there was most likely something very important located at its center.

"Sarik," Sarah said, catching his attention. She had stopped a couple meters ahead of his position immediately inside the front door, probably waiting on him after realizing that he wasn't at her side. Sarik walked briskly towards her, covering the distance in a little over a second.

"Why are we here?" Sarik questioned bluntly as they proceeded deeper into the facility. It was doubtful that his father would be pleased that he was here, and not in the private school that he was grudgingly allowing Sarik to attend. The fact that he was still living in the same house was probably agonizing for the old man.

"You'll see," Sarah assured him.

Sarik conceded, knowing that asking further questions would be pointless. He could try to force them from her physically, of course, but then there would be long-term ramifications to deal with. Not to mention that she was the only person in the world that he _remotely_ liked.

The boy began to grow suspicious as he and Sarah walked up on a set of double sliding doors sealed via key card. The setup seemed to remind him of something, but he couldn't remember what. He just knew that every fiber of his body was telling him to NOT go through there.

Sarik froze where he stood, unable to move. Even though he tried, his legs wouldn't budge as a blanket of irrational fear enveloped him.

Sarah glanced over to her side as she slid a card through one of the readers on the wall, apparently concerned that Sarik wasn't by her side, even more so than earlier, if he could tell by the expression on her face. She looked around behind her, immediately spotting Sarik where he stood.

"What's wrong?" she questioned, walking back towards him.

Sarik continued to stare at the doors for another few seconds, still unable to recall any memory of having encountered anything similar in the past. After mustering a small amount of willpower, Sarik forced himself to walk forward unwavering, his posture the same as before.

"Nothing," he informed Sarah emotionlessly as he passed her and walked through the now open doors.

"Where are you going?" Sarah asked Sarik as the doors sealed shut behind her. "We're going this way."

Sarik corrected his direction, walking towards one of the smaller corridors that branched off of the main one he was about to travel down. He continued to follow Sarah until he heard something that caused him to stop in his tracks once more.  
_  
Children._

Sarik glared up at Sarah before for a split second before darting ahead of her. This couldn't be. Was it happening all over again? Except this time, the people that he trusted were the villains? Why else would they want to be so secretive about this place?

Sarik came to a halt as two children, both somewhere between six and eight years of age, ran around a corner. But they weren't just any children. They were both Extendeds, significantly taller and more muscular than any Natural would be at that same age.

Around the corner behind them came what was obviously a guard, soon followed by a man who was most likely one of the facility's faculty. Sarik braced himself as the children passed him obliviously, ready to sacrifice himself as an obstacle to their pursuers. But just as the ran by him, Sarik realized that something was wrong.

The children were _laughing_.

Extendeds? _Laughing?_ Was that even physically possible?

Sarik stood up straight and watched curiously as the two adults passed him. The male faculty member appeared to recognize Sarah, acknowledging her presence with a nod as he sprinted by her. Sarah instantly returned it before catching up with Sarik.

"What-?" Sarik started.

"Just wait and see," Sarah interrupted, a smile forming on her face instantly.

Sarik raised his eyes towards her suspiciously before continuing down the corridor. He would most definitely be seeing. And if things turned out to be even remotely out of place, there were going to be consequences.

Sarik's mood lightened from suspicion to true curiosity as he perceived more sounds of activity ahead, much the result of young voices speaking. Sarik darted ahead once again, running through a door into a large chamber. A cafeteria.

Sarik was truly stunned by what he saw. Bustling around this giant room were at least one hundred, maybe two hundred, Extendeds. Most of them appeared to be roughly between the ages of seven and nine, though it was always a little difficult to tell at a distance, due to the accelerated growth that was a part of their conditioning. But what awed him so much was how _normal_ they appeared. All of them seemed to be getting along with each other just fine, their interactions similar to those that one could expect of children their age. Sarik knew that a number of fresh Extendeds, children who had already been through the conditioning process but not the eliminations, had been rescued from the desert facility, but it was doubtful that there were this many, not if Stella was there. Maybe his father had learned how to wipe their memories and give them a fresh start? But if that was the case, wouldn't he have done it to Sarik, too? The boy didn't doubt in the least that an action like that to be below his father.

"What is this?" Sarik inquired of Sarah as she caught up, his tone hard and serious.

"Can't you tell?" she asked.

"I can assume," Sarik told her. "And you probably won't like what I'm assuming."

"So stubborn," Sarah remarked as she folded her hands behind her back. "This is where we've been hiding the other Extendeds."

"Which ones?" Sarik questioned.

"All of them," Sarah answered.

"That's not possible," Sarik stated. "Unless you're doing the same thing as THEY did to us."

Sarik glared up at the women, his expression projecting every ounce of the disdain he was feeling. Did they think that by taking away these childrens' ability of choice that they were helping them? That by raising them in ignorance they would ultimately be happy and be able to lead productive lives?

"We aren't," Sarah informed Sarik. "In fact, I brought you here to make sure that we don't have to."

Sarik raised an eyebrow upon hearing this. Them, needing his help? That was a laugh. No one thought he could do anything. What were they trying to pull? Perhaps it was some twisted form of flattery or bribery?

"What do you mean?" Sarik inquired.

"Come," Sarah suggested. "We'll talk while we get something to eat."

Sarah began walking forward, Sarik following obediently. He'd play along for a little while, at least. Just until he got the truth.

"Some of the children are being difficult," Sarah informed him a few seconds later. "Several of them have kept themselves completely isolated from the others, while a much larger number have proven to be...aggressive towards their peers."

Sarik glanced about the cafeteria as they walked along, trying to memorize as many faces as possible, while at the same time taking in the children's body language. Most of the children did seem at relative ease here, though the majority were projecting fear in one form or the other, a minority of literally a few individuals projecting so much that they were practically asking to be victimized. Though the ones who seemed to be at the head of the clusters projected the most, the kind that any individual in power feared to lose. Most likely, those were the troublesome individuals Sarah spoke of, keeping their underlings in line with the very fear that they experienced. An extremely effective form of motivation, for some at least.

"I assume that you would like for me to help you to deal with these 'aggressive' individuals?" Sarik speculated.

"To help us understand them, yes," Sarah told Sarik. "Perhaps even to befriend some of them."

Sarik let out a chuckle under his breath. Friend. Such a subjective and fleeting term. From his observations, there were few such relationships in this chamber. Most were that of master and subordinate, with very sloppy but defined hierarchies. When afraid, people, children especially, grouped themselves together, and eventually, one or more of those individuals would rise to a position resembling that of a leader. Of course, the position was often self-appointed, but the others would not argue it because they felt that they NEEDED the group in order to keep their identity, and were willing to do anything to keep it together. Sometimes, this would happen in the brotherhoods, though more naturally, more with the consent of the others.

But there were no such brotherhoods here. The command chains were too obvious. Among this small group of a couple hundred children were clusters making up nations, provinces, townships, and the splinter factions that resided within each. Or, one could better equate them to crime gangs. But this was just from an initial glance of the children's interactions with each other. Sarik probably WOULD need weeks in order to fully discern the full extent of the internal politics and instigate their ultimate and simultaneous collapse.

As Sarik was returning his gaze to what was in front of him, something, or more specifically, someone, caught his attention. From his observations, there appeared to be at least two or three different mega-clusters equivalent to nations. However, walking by his gaze this very instant were two individuals who belonged to none, individuals who were not ashamed to show it. They walked freely through the territories of their peers, receiving glimpses of both disdain and admiration from their fellows. He was intrigued by this, because they seemed to be content with their current and somewhat alienated circumstances. Even if the two had only been here a couple of months, they should have given in to conformity, joining up with with one of the superpowers that dominated their existence, just like everyone else. These children were obviously strong willed and independent. They would certainly be suitable allies.

"It might help I met some of these people," Sarik informed Sarah. "So that I could understand how everything works a little better."

"Well, then pick someone out," Sarah suggested as she turned her head to look at Sarik. "I think any of these children would do, since they've been here for a while. Most of this group are from the same facility you were."

Sarik raised his eyebrows in surprise. That was over two years ago. If most of them had been here that long, the hierarchies certainly would be a problem, far more integrated than he initially believed. Not only would the older children have a seemingly unquestionable amount of power, but they essentially prevented any other groups from forming what could be considered the next generation, the newcomers liberated by his father's operations. And with that came social stagnation.

"Fine," Sarik said as he walked boldly off into the crowd.

"What?" Sarah asked before she realized what the boy was doing. "Sarik!"

But by then, he was several meters away and ignoring her, making a beeline for the two that he had spotted earlier. Their relationship somewhat reminded him of the one he had with Stella, albeit in reverse. A red-haired boy a little was following a blond-haired girl a centimeter or so taller than him, though his posture didn't imply any sort of subordination to her, at least not in the traditional sense. He was following her out of his own conviction, capable of breaking off at any time that he wanted, and probably did. Although, that caused Sarik to wonder, was he actually following? Or was he the leader, the kind that observed most of the time and reacted when duty required? One never knew. Can't judge a book by its cover, as the ancients said.

Sarik kept most of his focus on his targets while simultaneously monitoring Sarah's location. When she caught up with him, he would have to do what she said. He respected her that much. But if he could say that he couldn't hear her, then by no means did he have to react to her while she was making her way towards him.

Sarik continued to force his way through the crowd, eventually coming within a couple meters of the two children. But as he attempted to take another step, Sarik felt a hand grab his arm.

"I think you bumped into me," said a boy's voice.

Sarik glanced out of the corner of his eye to spot an older and much larger boy, probably eleven or twelve in age, grasping his forearm. But Sarik didn't recall bumping into him, or even seeing him.

"I don't think so," Sarik told him as he tugged lightly from the older child. Sarik looked over the crowd behind the child, trying to discern innocent bystanders from the instigators allies and lackeys. Sarik quickly decided against trying to fight his way out with brute force, since there were at least two additional opponents, both around the same age as his antagonist. If they were Naturals, he would have toasted him. But Extendeds, especially the battle-hardened ones, were not to be trifled with, even by other Extendeds.

"You're new, aren't you?" the boy questioned, keeping a firm grip on Sarik. "When did you get here?"

"Just now," Sarik answered as he slowly relaxed his knees. "Now would you please let me go?"

"Oh, sorry," the boy apologized as he released Sarik's arm.

Sarik darted off briskly, panting lightly in an attempt to calm himself. He'd just about snapped there, ready to break something of that child's that might be very precious to him in the future. Though the mocking he heard coming from the boy and his allies almost caused him to return and finish it. But, there would be time for that later. He needed to make his own allies, right now.

Sarik glanced through the crowds, trying to relocate his quarry. In the precious seconds that his antagonist wasted for him, Sarik had lost track of the two children. In ten seconds' time, a person could cover a deceivingly large amount of ground.

A moment later, the boy glimpsed what he thought to be a head full of red hair. He continued through the crowd, eventually finding himself near the edge of the cafeteria, in a space between the ends of one line of tables and the wall. And sitting near the end of one of those tables were the blond-haired girl and the red-haired boy.

"But almost no one likes us at all," Sarik heard the boy say to the girl. "Shouldn't we at least try to be nice?"

"If we're nice, they'll think that we're giving up," the girl replied. "You know that. As long as there's grown-ups here, we'll be fine."

The girl ran a hand across her forehead, then snapped her head towards Sarik. The boy realized that he had been caught, and made no attempt to hide his presence. That would only make things worse.

"What?" the girl questioned in an obnoxious, irritated tone.

"May I sit here?" Sarik courtesied, motioning at a seat across the table from her as he walked closer.

"Does it have anyone's name on it?" she asked snobbishly.

Sarik raised one of his eyebrows at the question. It was obviously some form of sarcasm, but why was she using it towards him, without even knowing him? Had she no manners?

But rather than taking insult, Sarik simply smirked as he sat down on the stool-like chair. He continued to stare at the girl, trying to figure out what kind of person she was. Obviously, something around here was giving her the confidence to act this way. Perhaps she was one of the faculty's favorites? Because from what the redhead had just said, she didn't seem to have much support from her peers. Though that was kind of what Sarik was looking for. An outsider.

The blond-haired girl, after looking down at the table for a moment, glanced up at Sarik from the top edge of her eyes, then snapped her head erect, most likely just now realizing that Sarik was still staring at her.

"What do you want?" the girl asked in an annoyed tone, her gray eyes cautious of him.

"I simply wish to get to know you better," Sarik replied confidently.

"Okay..." the girl said dryly.

"I apologize," Sarik courtesied. "I should probably introduce myself. I'm Sarik."

The girl turned her head slightly, staring at Sarik with a most curious glance, as if she was ob the verge of thinking him weird, but not quite there.

"May I inquire to whom I have the pleasure of making this acquaintance?" Sarik asked in the most adult voice he could muster. While he had participated in few social interactions during the past couple of years, he had most definitely been practicing his acting skills. He managed to impress most of his teachers when he started up at the private school this past fall, and got along just fine with his class mates, most of whom were at least two years his senior.

The redheaded boy glanced at the girl once, a hint of annoyance among his features, before he turned to Sarik.

"Everyone calls me Aaron," the child introduced, reaching a hand across the table, which Sarik took in his own and shook.

"Well met," the ten-year-old courtesied.

"Why do you talk like that?" the girl asked suddenly, most blunt in her tone.

"Like what?" Sarik inquired.

"You're talking like a grown-up," she informed him. "You sound stupid."

Sarik remained still but for his eyes, which widened slightly at the revelation. Part of him wanted to take offense, but another part realized that she might have a point. Talking like this at his age might might him sound slightly ridiculous, since his voice was a few pitches higher than that of most adult's.

"I'm sorry," Sarik apologized, his manner of speech unchanging. "I didn't realize that it bothered you."

"It doesn't," the girl replied.

"Then why did you bring it up?" Sarik questioned.

"Just because," she said.

"Because...?" Sarik inquired.

"I don't know," the blond-haired child responded in a huff.

Beside her, Aaron sighed as he shook his head.

"This is why no one likes us," he remarked under his breath.

The girl simply turned her head, facing away from both him and Sarik.

"I'm sorry," Sarik told her several seconds later.

"What?" the girl asked, slowly turning her head back towards him.

"I'm sorry," Sarik repeated. Apparently, she had taken insult at something he had said or done, and he didn't even know her name. Not the best way to start off an acquaintanceship. "I didn't mean to make you upset."

"You didn't," the young child told him.

"Well, then," Sarik said as he reached across the table with a hand. "Let's start over. My name's Sar-"

"Stay away from me!" Amelia blurted, smacking away Sarik's arm.

Sarik jerked his hand back and jumped up out of his seat. Why was he reacting like this? He wasn't scared, as far as he could tell. But for some reason, he felt...hurt? Was that it? He couldn't find the right word to describe what he was experiencing. He couldn't remember ever having felt like this before.

"I'm sorry!" the girl apologized almost instantly in a gasp.

"It's all right," Sarik assured her as he sat back down, lightly rubbing his arm where she had hit it. "You didn't hurt me."

The child let out a light sigh in relief, then looked back up at him, her eyes alone relaying all of the apology he needed. One could say all that they wanted with words, but what ultimately satisfied Sarik was when they conveyed it physically. It was harder to lie that way, at least at this age.

"Let's get back to where we were, shall we?" Sarik suggested. "Would you mind telling me your name?"

"Amelia," the girl told him emotionlessly.

"Thank you," he told her. If Sarik's timing was right, Sarah would be locating him within a few moments.

"There you are!" Sarik heard his caretaker remark from behind him. "I was worried that I'd lost you."

"Miss Sarah?" Amelia said.

Sarik looked back at Sarah, who seemed to have be slightly stunned, if he was interpreting the look on her face correctly. Did they actually know each other?

"How have you been, Amelia?" Sarah questioned politely, as if to strike up a conversation.

"Good," Amelia answered with equal politeness. "Why were you gone so long?"

Sarah slowly took a seat next to Sarik, her response never registering with his brain. She had known this girl the entire time? He wished he'd know that sooner. He could have saved a lot of time, to say the least.

* * *

"I didn't realize that you knew them," Sarik stated as he followed Sarah down the corridor.

"You didn't say anything," Sarah replied.

"I realize that," Sarik assured her. "But how do you know them?"

"You're not the only child I've worked with," she told Sarik. "There were others who needed help."

"That still doesn't answer my question," the ten-year-old remarked as they made a turn. He was still unsure of where they were headed.

"Does it really matter?" Sarah asked.

"No," Sarik responded. "But I still wouldn't mind knowing."

Sarah sighed, and Sarik almost threw out an apology as a result. His lack of communication today had sincerely worried her, and now he was prodding in a most obvious and unrestrained fashion, something that he knew most people didn't appreciate.

"Can you keep quiet about this?" Sarah questioned.

"Of course," Sarik told her. He knew she trusted him. He assumed that she was just performing this out of courtesy, if he'd read the woman correctly.

"All right, then," she said. "They're from the same facility as you."

"I already gathered that," Sarik remarked. "So what makes them special?"

"Well, Amelia..." Sarah started, but apparently couldn't finish. "Well, you see..."

Sarik watched his mentor closely as he continued to follow her. Whatever it was was causing her some degree of turmoil.

"She was the last person to fight Stella before you did," Sarah blurted out a moment later, stopping in her tracks.

And it was a good thing that she did, because as soon as he heard that name, Sarik froze. Not out of fear, not out of sorrow. He just froze where he stood, unable to muster the willpower to move.

Was that why Sarah asked him to remain silent of this? Because she knew that he would go asking Amelia about it avidly, as every fiber of his being was urging him to now? And because she knew this, had she made him promise because she knew that he was very unlikely to break it?

Sarik continued to stare blankly forward as he pondered before smirking and looking up at his mentor. She had most definitely outsmarted him this time. He apparently still had much to learn about people.

"So what makes Aaron special?" Sarik inquired as he began walking again, a slight grin still adorning his features.

Sarah looked down at Sarik with a confused expression before starting her stroll back up, keeping a few centimeters ahead of him.

"He was the one who found Amelia, or at least WE think so," she informed Sarik. "We found him sitting near what we thought was a dead child's body beside two dead guards. Apparently, he noticed something that we wouldn't have before it was too late."

"Did they have any prior association there?" Sarik questioned. Even if Aaron had been another of the safeguarded Extendeds, he couldn't think of any other reason to why the child would have done something like that for her.

"We honestly don't know," Sarah said. "Their records didn't show any, and Aaron claims to not remember anything at all from then. It was probably a god thing."

A valid theory. It had only been through persistent and eventually forceful therapy that he had come to, and even then only remembering the significant bits and pieces. Who knew how many other of the Extendeds had reacted similarly to what they were exposed to.

"So what about the girl?" Sarik asked. "Amelia."

"She's about as stubborn as you," Sarah remarked with a smirk, turning her attention to Sarik.

"And what is that supposed to mean?" the ten-year-old inquired in a slightly insulted tone.

"It means that if you don't want to tell somebody something, you don't," Sarah stated. "She's the same way, but much worse."

"Oh, really?" Sarik questioned rhetorically.

"Yes," Sarah answered.

"I bet I could get it out of her," Sarik challenged.

"Good luck," Sarah remarked sarcastically.

"Well, now I have to," Sarik joked, or at least attempted to.

"Maybe later," Sarah assured him. "But there was someone I wanted you to meet. She was the original reason I brought you here."

She? Sarik didn't personally know any Extendeds that were girls. Of course, until today, he didn't know ANY Extendeds in any manner. That were confirmed among the living, anyway.

"So where are we headed?" Sarik asked curiously. He'd been burning to ask the question this entire time. He just hadn't had a chance to until now.

"The schooling section," Sarah informed him.

"Schooling?" Sarik questioned.

"Yes," Sarah confirmed. "What, you thought that we would neglect their educational needs?"

"I didn't really think about it," Sarik admitted. "Though I do have a problem with exposing my peers to my father's indoctrination."

"Where did you get a crazy idea like that?" Sarah asked in a disgusted tone.

"I know my father very well, Sarah," Sarik responded. "William didn't come up with that on his own."

"Well, I can promise you that nothing of that sort is going on here," Sarah assured the child. "We have teachers and professors from all over the world, all who teach their own choice of curriculum. A couple of them are even Coordinators."

"Really?" Sarik said, another smirk starting to form on his face. It would be interesting to interact with someone that he could consider his equal. At worst, he at least had a chance to finally assess for himself why so many Naturals felt threatened by them.

"Yep," Sarah answered distantly, as she seemed to be looking for something at the same time. "Looks like we're here. Classes got out around ten minutes ago, so we might not be alone."

"It makes no difference to me," Sarik remarked as he stopped to avoid passing Sarah.

"All right," she said before waving a hand over a nearby door's motion sensor, causing it to slide open.

And inside were four children, all of whom were yelling and screaming. Well, three were, while one was on the floor crying.

"Say you're sorry!" Sarik heard a girl order.

As he lazily strolled into the room, Sarik spotted a girl holding a smaller boy's shirt by the nape of the neck. The entire affair wouldn't have phased him but for the fact that he recognized two of the individuals in the room. The girl, who was obviously the aggressor, was one of the Extendeds that he had encountered during the raid on the Blue Cosmos facility a couple months back. And the child crying on the floor was her twin sister.

"I didn't do anything!" he replied, bringing his hands up to push the crazed Extended away.

"Liar!" she accused, punching the boy across the face before he could defend himself.

"What are you doing, Reia?!" Sarik heard Sarah exclaim as she bolted into the room, but the redhead obviously was ignoring her.

"Well, this is amusing," Sarik remarked obnoxiously as he continued walking closer towards the scene.

The girl suddenly dropped the boy she was assaulting and turned her head towards Sarik, obviously catching what he had said. Apparently, he had insulted her.

"You!" she snarled before bolting towards Sarik, a hint of recognition on her face.

And she was literally bolting. The girl who Sarah had called Reia managed to cover the meter and a half separating them in what appeared to be only a quick leap or two. And she was coming for blood.

But as Reia lashed out at him with the back of her arm, Sarik relaxed his knees and ducked, moving below her blow, while sweeping out his left leg and knocking her off balance. But rather than allowing her to fall completely to the ground as she had allowed her victim, Sarik reached out and braced his arms behind her back, breaking the younger girl's descent.

Sarik unintentionally let out a grunt of amusement. So he still had it in him.

"I ask that you stop," Sarik told the girl as he stood erect while keeping her dependent on his support. "I don't want to hurt you by accident."

However, he soon realized his mistake as the girl's leg suddenly twitched, and Sarik found the small appendage flying upwards at his face. He had to admit, she was quite flexible. But, having no wish to become a victim to that attribute of hers, Sarik pulled his arms away, completely removing the support that he was giving the girl while simultaneously jerking his head back. Not only did this cause Reia's attack to overshoot, but it also caused her to fall flat on her back, an audible thump resulting on impact with the carpeted floor.

"You two, out!" Sarah ordered the boys whom were being bullied by the redhead. Both were more than compliant, and vacated the room in seconds, running by the time they reached the corridor.

"Your behavior was completely unacceptable!" Sarah told the girl as the door slid closed. "You can't keep doing this."

"They needed to apologize," Reia said defensively as she rose to her feet, motioning towards the girl that Sarik assumed to be her sister.

"So what did they do this time?" Sarah questioned rhetorically. "Bump into her?"

"That's exactly what they did," Reia replied.

"Things like this are going to happen!" Sarah exclaimed. "It was an accident. You can't take offense at every little thing."

"They knocked her over, and now she's crying!" Reia observed. "It takes a lot to do that."

"How ridiculous," Sarik remarked under his breath as he began walking towards the girl who was whimpering on the floor.

"Hey, stay away from her!" Reia ordered, but the boy ignored her as he bent down in front of the girl.

"Hey, what's your name?" Sarik asked bluntly, though the only reaction from the girl was a sudden end to her crying. That was good, at least. "It's all right."

"She hasn't talked since then," Reia informed Sarik from behind him, her tone most discouraging. He assumed that she had meant since their rescue.

"Do you have a name?" Sarik asked the girl, undeterred. He'd succeeded in worse situations that men twice his age wouldn't have. This was nothing. And he WAS going to succeed.

"Her name is Ballari," Reia told him in an irritable tone.

"Shut up!" Sarik snapped off. The words needed to come from her mouth, not another's.

"Now, what's your name?" Sarik asked. When the girl seemed to pay him no heed, the boy grabbed one of her hands in both of his and gently pulled it in front of her. He needed to get her attention.

He succeeded, and the girl turned her head towards him, making eye contact, which was a good start for him. Sarik looked over her face, and realized that she had truly been crying, the drying trails of tears on her face evidence of this. That just wouldn't do, not over a little accident.

"It's all right if you tell me your name," Sarik assured her softly.

The girl continued to stare at him sadly. Sarik sighed, and released her hand. What hadn't he tried yet? What could he do to get her to come out of her shell? What had brought him out of his?

Then, he realized it. Sarik leaned over towards the girl and whispered into her ear, "I'll tell you my name if you tell me yours."

Sarik leaned back and allowed himself to sit. This might take a while, so he was going to be at least semi-comfortable while he waited. Once he came to a complete rest, Sarik glanced over at Sarah and Reia. He almost chuckled, as Reia looked like the most angry creature on Earth, only restraining herself because her arm was currently in Sarah's adamant grip. Sarah, on the other hand, had a most serious expression on hers, one that Sarik never had associated with good situations. He wondered how much longer she would let him continue trying.

"Promise?" Sarik suddenly heard from in front of him, causing him to snap his head forward.

So it worked. All this time, these people had been trying to get her to talk while she completely lacked one thing. _Trust._

"Of course," Sarik told her, attempting to hide all of his surprise. He hadn't expected it to work at all, much less this quickly. "I'm Sarik."

"Ballari," the girl told him quietly. So quiet, in fact, it was doubtful anyone but him had heard it. Maybe Reia, since she also was an Extended.

"That's a bit long," Sarik remarked in an equally quiet manner. "Do you go by anything else? Like a nickname?"

The girl expression quickly changed to that of puzzlement. Did she not know what a nickname was?

"How about we call you Ari?" Sarik suggested. "Would you like that?"

The girl simply nodded her head once, which Sarik returned before he got to his feet, pulling the younger girl up with him after grabbing her hand. He quickly released it and strolled over towards Sarah, who allowed Reia free. Rather than attacking Sarik as he initially predicted she would, the girl quickly ran over to her sister, causing him to smile for a moment, at least before it brought to memory images of William.

* * *

"I'm sorry," Sarik told Sarah as they walked down the corridor, after having spent some time with the girls in the habitation area of the facility.

"For what?" she asked.

"You didn't like how I went about that," Sarik stated.

"That depends," Sarah said. "Why did you do that?"

"Because I needed to prove that I could do this," Sarik informed her. "I have to make allies in order to do what you need me to."

"Allies?" Sarah questioned. "You mean friends?"

"No, allies," Sarik corrected. "If they become friends later on, so be it. But until then, they're just individuals I can count on for assistance."

"So you don't think you can be friends with Aaron and Amelia, or Reia and Ballari?" Sarah inquired

"It's Ari now," Sarik told her.

"I rest my case," Sarah remarked.

Sarik glared up angrily at his mentor. He hated when people talked down to him like that.

* * *

Sarik stared at the wall for yet another agonizingly long minute. He just couldn't get to sleep tonight. One reason was probably because he wasn't in his own bed. That was a given. But something else was bothering him.

Was Sarah right? Was he already developing what was called "friendship" with the people that he had met today? Was he already too far into something that he was trying to avoid?

From what he and Sarah had discussed tonight before going to bed, she really and truly wanted his help in this. Apparently Sarik wasn't the only one who noticed the problems among the Extendeds. They were all well-above average in regards to potential in all forms, but they lacked the experience and understanding to do much with it, at least correctly. In fact, Sarik knew that even he lacked some in the way of this. He simply had the luxury of being raised outside of this isolated environment, while simultaneously being able to remain separate of his own environment and observe from a distance in an objective manner. Living in such tight quarters, you didn't have those options, where the politics of children dominated your life.

But there were things that he as a child could and had to do that the adults couldn't, again because of his age. However, in order to do that, he needed allies. But he couldn't become friends with them, because there might come a point and time when he would have to hurt them.

But did he really want to do that? He didn't think so. He never wanted to hurt anyone. He considered himself to be at least somewhat considerate of others. He might not show it most of the time, even in his actions, but it did hurt him to see others go through their struggles. And he also knew that there was nothing he could do most of the time. As a child, as a human being, he was powerless to do many things. And because others were human, they had unrealistic expectations from those who surrounded them, wanting help that others could not give, often the result of their imperfect judgment. Sometimes, he probably did the same without realizing it. But in the end, he had become stronger for overcoming everything on his own, hadn't he?

But did he want to be on his own? One couldn't be as easily hurt, right? And they didn't have to depend on others as much, having become more self-sufficient. They didn't have to worry about emotions constantly plaguing their thoughts, affecting their judgment.

But it was those irrational thoughts that had made him happy at one time. At one time, the only thing that kept him going were the thoughts he had of three people. And over time, those thoughts became habit, involuntary. He couldn't stop thinking about them. And he was always hoping that they felt the same way about him.

Sarik let a low grumble leave his throat as he rolled onto his back and closed his eyes. He would save it all for another day.

* * *  
Sarik sat boredly in the back of the classroom, really unable to pay attention to the teacher. He had already completed this level of classes at home, so it wasn't like he was learning anything new.

But the flat out disrespect many of these children had towards the facility's faculty was bugging Sarik to the core. In this case, the teacher. These people were risking their lives on multiple fronts in an attempt to expose these little _snots_ to at least some level of normalcy. And what did they do? They would chat among themselves, pass notes, and just flat out ignore their educators. Being Extendeds, they should have at least an above average respect for what the mind was capable of, especially theirs. Why would they intentionally want to hinder their intellectual progression like this?

Sarik scowled as the young boy in front of him, probably no older than eleven, slowly began reaching his hand across towards another boy to his left, holding a poorly folded note. Fed up with this utterly unacceptable behavior, Sarik lunged over his small desk and snatched the note from the boy's hand, silently snapping back to his original position as if nothing happened. And since no one was behind him, the only witnesses were the two boys, who at the moment were powerless to retaliate due to teacher at the front of the room.

Sarik quickly unfolded the note underneath his desk and glanced over its contents. It was really nothing, just a couple of boys trading trivial remarks. Sarik quickly folded the paper back to its original form, having no wish to read the communication in any detail. He had procured it for a single reason.

As the boy in front of Sarik slowly turned about, glaring at him, he simply grinned and tore the piece of paper cleanly in half, then into quarters, causing the older child's expression to change from annoyed to that of hate. Sarik had just declared his first war.

* * *

Sarik continued to move through the play area, trying to evade his pursuers. Apparently, when he had pulled his little stunt in the classroom a couple days ago, he had underestimated any allies that the boys would have elsewhere. Now, he was silently on the run from at least six pursuers, all of whom were herding him towards some place in here, most likely somewhere where he would have his back forced to a wall. He just hoped he could make it to the meeting point before he ran into any of their other assistance.

Sarik continued to move onward, carefully maneuvering around the playing children. The underground section of this facility was impressive, to say the least. It was just before dinner, and probably a total exceeding one thousand of his surrogate siblings were inhabiting this monolithic chamber, the structure about two hundred or three hundred meters in diameter, a large number of benches, picnic tables, and play equipment strewn around at seemingly random locations. For all intents and purposes, a park. It even had grass, trees, and flowers.

However, the boy was not concentrating on this as much as he was concentrating on the seventh pursuer that had just revealed himself, making a beeline straight for Sarik from the side. If he wasn't quick, he was going to be caught, and who knew what would happen then.

But the young child let out a sigh of relief as he spotted Aaron and Amelia ahead. They were there, just as they had promised. He was safe.

Sarik quickly moved towards his associates, turning his back towards them and taking a quick tally of those who were herding him. It turned out there were a total of ten converging on them from all directions, each ironically around the age of ten. Only one appeared to be older, probably twelve years old.

"Don't get involved in this," the boy warned, obviously speaking to Aaron and Amelia.

"He's with us," she retorted. "Butt off."

"Now, now, let's be nice, friends," Sarik suggested. "We're here to-"

But Sarik never had a chance to finish as the twelve-year-old, apparently the one in charge, launched himself into the air towards Sarik. This guy apparently preferred action over talk.

After quickly glancing around, Sarik realized that he had no choice but to fight this aggressive individual, since there were no adults within his line of sight. Which meant he wasn't in their's.

Sarik ducked down to avoid the larger child's blows, though he quickly snapped back up, his arms crossed in a defensive posture. Were he against a Natural, he could toy with him, take his time in order to find a way to safely restrain him. But against an Extended, he was on equal or worse footing. And that was something he just wasn't used to.

As he came to a full stand, Sarik forced his arms out in a backhand motion, catching the boy in the chest where his hands met. The boy was forced back slightly, but completely undeterred. Sarik had a funny feeling this fight was about to come to a quick end.

But as the older child grabbed the front of Sarik's shirt and brought a fist back in preparation to punch him, all in a couple of seconds, Sarik spotted something dart beside him, and the boy holding him began falling towards the ground. Sarik broke from his grasp, just barely avoiding being crushed.

As Sarik regained his bearings on reality, he realized that Amelia was standing over his attacker, Aaron on the other side of him, apparently the one who tripped they boy. Just before the aggressor made contact with the ground, the blond-haired girl brought a kick down onto his back, compounding the impact severely.

Sarik jumped back up into a battle stance, awaiting further attacks from the rest of his stalkers, but realized that most of them had fled. The only three still around were on the ground, holding their groin areas, a pair of redheaded girls nearby, one with a most determined look on her face.

"Thank you," Sarik courtesied in a surprised tone after moving from his defensive posture. He had been in contact with Reia and Ari for the entirety of the past two days, even more so than with Aaron and Amelia. He had mentioned his little scheme to them once, but he didn't think that they would actually join in.

"I call second," Reia remarked.

Sarik let out a chuckle and smirked. So that's how it was? Well, better to have frien...allies in any form that one could get them.

"So you're not mad at me anymore?" Sarik questioned.

"Not right now," Reia informed him.

"So who's this?" Amelia inquired bluntly.

"My friend, allow me to introduce you to the twins Reia and Ari," Sarik dramatized.

* * *

_Success at last_, Sarik thought.

It was his last week here, and he had done it. Not only had he helped to change policy for another Extended facility, but he had essentially destabilized an entire government that the children had set up among themselves, infiltrating the two main gangs and managed to locating their leaderships. With assistance from Amelia, Aaron, and the twins, he then discerned their weaknesses and ultimately exploited them.

In one case, he had essentially negotiated the dissolution of the faction, their thirteen-year-old leader apparently one who respected intelligent interaction. He had been so helpful that he went as far as to convince the remainder of the group's unofficial brass to stand down and provide as much assistance as they could to their benefactors.

In the other case, Sarik was forced to use less orthodox measures, and had embarrassed most of the leaders so much that they stopped leading and practically isolated themselves from their former underlings. While Sarik realized that it wasn't the best solution for them as individuals, it had worked in putting the adults back into a position of recognizable authority, even when they weren't looking. While he had mixed feelings about that, at least he knew that the underdog now had a chance in this facility.

And in the process, he'd managed to get Ari to actually participate in a complete conversation with him. While Reia was away a couple weeks back, someone apparently thought that they could pick on the shy girl. Well, Sarik had proved that individual wrong, to say the least, and it seemed from now on, he would remain Ari's guardian, at least while he was around. He'd promised them that much.

"Hey, Sarah?" Sarik said to his mentor, who was sleeping on a bed across the room from him. "Sarah. Are you awake?"

"I am now," she remarked, her tone that of barely controlled irritability. "What is it?"

"Could we bring them with us?" Sarik asked bluntly.

"Bring who?" Sarah asked in a yawn, sitting up on her mattress.

"You know, them," Sarik told her.

"No, I don't," Sarah informed her charge.

"Amelia and all of them," Sarik stated sheepishly.

Sarah massaged her eyes sleepily, then looked over at Sarik, making eye contact with him.

"What do you mean by 'bring them with us'?" she inquired, slightly more alert this time.

"To come live with us," Sarik clarified. "You know, in Eurasia."

"I don't think that's likely to happen," she told Sarik as she fell back down onto her bed and rolled onto her side, away from the boy.

"But we could enroll them in my school, couldn't we?" he asked. "They have housing for students that have to travel from a long ways."

"Are you serious?" Sarah groaned as she rolled onto her other side, so that she could see Sarik.

"When am I not?" he questioned.

Sarah stared at him wearily for a moment, hopefully actually contemplating his request and not thinking about how quickly she could get back to sleep.

"I'll see about it," she finally told Sarik a few minutes later. "Now please, go to sleep."

Sarik simply smirked as he rolled onto his side and relaxed his head into his pillow. Friends. It nice to have them again, nice to have someone to care about. He didn't realize how much he was missing them until he had them back.


	24. Chapter 23

**CE 74**

Sarik stared almost trance-like out of the beach-side office's window, down where Stella was sitting on the sandy shores, from where she stared out at the seemingly infinite waters of the ocean. Of course, Amelia was nearby, keeping an eye on the girl, for which Sarik was thankful. During the past few days, she seemed to have been making an honest effort to accept the new addition to her ring of associates.

After the initial effects of Stella's incident were dealt with, the three of them had only spent a couple days more on the carrier, as it proved evident to Sarik that organizing anymore large-scale training runs would be insanely difficult due to the complete lack of organization that currently plagued the defense force, which he strongly felt was a result of his own neglect. But he would be there to fix it himself, this time. Recent events had caused Sarik to put most of his time into improving SSI's military strength. That was his primary reason for returning.

No, that wasn't completely right. True, he had spent the past forty hours straight working with the various officers here on the island, but trying to fix something that had been broken for a while wasn't the entire reason behind his desire to return. Sarik's ultimate motivation was the news of a new, massive operation being organized by the ZAFT military, one which he felt he couldn't afford to miss. He had a feeling that this was going to effect everything to come, as probably did the rest of the informed in this dark world.

Sarik had first heard of ZAFT's massing at Gibraltar when he was presented with the report containing the details of the Freedom's destruction several days ago. He didn't think much of it at the time, since he really couldn't fathom any sort of large campaign that they could carry out. He had simply assumed that it was the result of a large number of transfers that would soon be dispersed throughout the world, since such massive redeployments occurred regularly.

But now that the surviving leaders of Logos had gathered themselves in Iceland, a result of a number of ZAFT sympathizers committing acts of mob violence against them, Sarik's entire outlook on the direction of the war had become somewhat pessimistic.

From a strategist's point of view, the move to Heaven's Base was stupid. True, the fortress had dozens of naval craft, hundreds of mobile weapons, and just as many heavy weapons emplacements at its disposal, but the fact that such a massive battle force, the last of its size that the Earth Alliance could muster on terrestrial soil, was entrenched in the same location made the entire army an easy target for complete annihilation or capture, along with the Logos members that it harbored. The only good thing Sarik could find in this entire affair was that William was most likely among them, if his personal sources had any validity.

But even considering that, Sarik he did not wish ill for the Earth Alliance forces still under Logos's influence. Right now, ZAFT's concentration on them was completely diverting their attention from a number of their smaller items of interest. After Heaven's Base fell, there would be no other possible objectives that might prevent them from coming after him or any of the number of the minor Logos "members" on which ZAFT had declared war several days earlier. And after the minor powers were out of the way, the force of Coordinators would progressively engage the next most powerful threats until there was no one left who could oppose them and their goals.

"President," Sarik heard a confident voice greet from behind him.

Bracing himself against the window frame, the young Extended turned his head to find a somewhat bulky man before him, a man by the name of Arturo Shekrov. He was currently SSI's intelligence director, a most resourceful individual from the frozen north of Eurasia. So resourceful, in fact, that he had been the one who recruited their informant aboard the _Minerva_, whose intelligence had proved most useful up to this point.

"Director," Sarik courtesied. "You have everything?"

"Yes, sir," Arturo reported enthusiastically.

"Do we know what kind of force deployment we're dealing with here?" Sarik inquired as he turned back towards the window, staring back off at the beach, his gaze more than once passing over Stella, if not to his annoyance.

"This was as of three months ago, but a flight of three Windams, a flight of eight Dagger-Ls, a platoon of Linear Artillery, a platoon and Linear Tanks, and a new mobile weapon known simply as a 'Wild Dagger'," the director relayed. "We should expect the facility's defenses to have doubled by now."

"Wild Dagger?" Sarik questioned, ignoring the last comment.

"It's a new Earth Alliance mass-production variant," Arturo informed Sarik as he began rummaging through the papers that he had on hand, finally pulling one from his stack and holding it out in front of him in order to read it. "Based off of the ZGMF-X88S Gaia."

Sarik frowned upon hearing this. So they would be going up against that accursed weapon? The Gaia was one of ZAFT's next-generation mobile suit prototypes stolen by the Earth Alliance during its raid at Armory one. Its pilot had managed to wrack up a considerable number of kills during its operational period, including a couple of ZAFT's best aces. It was only as of recent that Sarik had learned that pilot just happened to be Stella, who had the machine assigned to her shortly after the break-in at the PLANTs. Sarik still didn't know the full extent of her involvement in that incident, and frankly, he didn't want to.

But then, this could work to his advantage. If she was once its pilot, then perhaps she would have a greater understanding of its weaknesses...

Sarik snapped out of his careless thoughts almost instantly. What was wrong with him? It was terrible of him to even SPECULATE on such a thing. He was not going to expose her to war again, and at all costs. She didn't deserve any of this. Only those ready and willing to die should be involved in war. And he believed Stella to be neither, having had this forced on her by Logos from the beginning.

"Can we assume with confidence that this 'Wild Dagger' won't be piloted by a Natural?" Sarik asked.

"A fair amount," Arturo replied. "The Wild Dagger is unlike any other mass-production model that I've observed. It's safe to say that they're not designed for your everyday pilot."

"And since it's defending an Extended facility, they certainly wouldn't leave it in the hands of just any pilot," the young man speculated. "Even theirs."

"Poorly?" Shekrov asked. "Do you know what kind of firepower that defense force amounts to without factoring in the pilots' skill levels? We certainly won't be able to spare enough of our forces to match them one-on-one."

"We don't need to," Sarik stated. "We have a notable number of custom mobile suits piloted by individuals more than capable of handling such a situation."

"Without casualties?" the intelligence director questioned skeptically, his eyebrows raised.

"Certainly," Sarik responded confidently. "My Astray and Amelia's GuIAZ would be more than sufficient. _Just_ to be safe, we'll bring along a compliment of Daggers and GINNs. If it would make you feel better, I'll even bring along one of the Buster Daggers."

"You do realize what the consequences are if we get caught, right?" Arturo asked rhetorically, shaking his head at the young man.

"Yes," Sarik assured him. "And I also know what they will be if we don't do this."

"It would be better to have to deal with them in the future than to risk ruining yourself in the present," the director stated.

"And how many of them do you truly believe that we'll be able to save if we wait until then?" Sarik inquired. "They'll be pitted against us in mobile suits, or whatever new weapons that have been invented by then. We have to get them now, while they can cause the least amount of damage and can still be changed."

Arturo sighed, then took a seat at the table in the center of the room. Sarik followed suit, staring the man straight in the eye.

"What are your expectations of all this?" Sarik questioned.

"This?" Arturo inquired.

"The world in general," Sarik specified. "The war."

"Well, its obvious that ZAFT is planning to finish off Logos," the man stated. "And the fact that they have managed to rally a significant portion of the Earth Alliance forces AGAINST them is somewhat troubling. The two together will be formidable if the alliance somehow persists after today."

"Like if they decided to turn their sights on Orb," Sarik speculated.

"Especially if they turn their sights on Orb," the intelligence officer agreed. "If this nation goes down, so goes the last nation willing and able to oppose any of the world's major governments openly."

"Whatever their motives may be," Sarik observed.

"Well, we certainly couldn't expect much leniency towards your Extendeds," Arturo speculated. "At best, they'd become objects of research, their rights as human beings gone. You know how desperate ZAFT has been to get their hands on a live and intact specimen."

"They would be treated the same, anyway, if their existence weren't kept secret," Sarik stated. "I fear even by the county on whose soil we dwell."

"True," Arturo agreed.

Sarik stared back off towards the window. Today, it seemed that he just wasn't capable of keep his thoughts in order. Most often, they seemed to be wandering towards Stella. It seemed impossible keep her out of his head for long, despite his many, MANY long and strained attempts.

"So what are we going to do with your friend?" Arturo asked out of the blue.

"Stella?" Sarik inquired.

"Yes," the man clarified.

"I really don't know," Sarik admitted. "I had planned on keeping her out of everything for the time being."

"Really?" Arturo said. "That's a shame. I was extremely impressed by her talent as a mobile suit pilot."

Sarik glared off at the wall, still wondering whether or not it was a smart move for him to allow her to fly one of their mobile suits, considering the potential risks involved. The graceful piloting skills that he had observed while Stella was piloting the Windslider had bolstered his curiosity into her overall abilities as a pilot, so he'd had his M1A hauled out to the _Somestraba_ during their stay. Sarik had then escorted her in the Windslider while she showed off the entirety of her skills in the mobile suit, the young man occasionally playing the role of her prey for good measure. And just as Arturo had put it, her skills were impressive, if not outstanding. While he had yet to test it by sparring with her in another mobile suit, Sarik theorized that Stella's combat experience allowed her abilities to even surpass his own in the cockpit of the massive mechs, though that in itself was not even remotely surprising.

Sarik almost chuckled at himself. At one point, he had even been tempted to call Amelia out in her GuIAZ, but he had quickly dismissed the notion, figuring that would be pushing it a little too far. The fact that Amelia had recently rescued Sarik from a most horrendous fate had caused him to cut her a lot of slack, even more so because she was getting along with Stella now.

"Do you have any suggestions?" Sarik asked.

"Take her with you on the raid," the director answered.

"Out of the question," Sarik responded almost instantly.

"I wouldn't be like that," Shekrov told him. "She could be a powerful ally, if you let her be."

"So you think I should take advantage of her, just like THEY did?" Sarik inquired angrily.

"No," Arturo said bluntly. "Sit her down, explain everything in detail, and ask her to make an honest, informed decision."

"I don't think she has much of a capacity to say no," Sarik informed the man.

"And I think you underestimate her," Arturo speculated.

"Regardless, she's staying out of this," Sarik stated adamantly.

Arturo sighed.

"Well, you have till tonight to decide," he informed Sarik. "You do still plan on leaving out this evening, yes?"

"Yes," Sarik answered irritibly. "Now what's this business about the Board?"

"Well, as usual, they're trying to undermine you," Arturo informed him. "And, as usual, Carren's the leader."

"Carren..." Sarik sighed. "I see that he needs to be reminded who runs this corporation for the millionth time."

"I would suggest you go to Miss Amelia about that," Arturo suggested. "She has something that might help."

"Like what?" Sarik inquired.

"You have to discuss that with her," the intelligence director said. "It's not my place."

Sarik glared at the man irritably for a moment, then glanced off in another direction.

"You're married, right?" Sarik asked hesitantly.

"Uh, yes," Arturo replied cautiously. "Why?"

"May I ask your on something?" Sarik inquired. "Perhaps of a somewhat private nature?"

"Perhaps, assuming it's not too personal," Shekrov answered. "Most of us like to keep our personal and professional lives separate, as you already know."

"Of course," Sarik complied. "I just wanted an outsiders perspective on relationships. In general."

"I'll be happy to help, if I can," Arturo assured him.

Sarik stared off at the wall for a moment.

"How old is your wife?" Sarik questioned.

"We're the same age," he informed Sarik.

"I see," Sarik said under his breath. "Would you still love her as you do if she were younger?"

"Of course," Arturo answered enthusiastically.

"How much younger?" Sarik prodded.

"What do you mean?" the director inquired curiously.

"Say, a younger adolescent, in age," Sarik suggested. "Isn't there some point that you would draw a line and not cross it?"

Arturo leaned back in his seat, rubbing his chin with his left hand. Apparently, it wasn't something that the man often thought on.

"Well, it depends," Arturo said. "Love really isn't one of those set things. Some forms of love come and go with time, while other, less conditional kinds can last the span of a life."

"Let's say unconditional, then," Sarik suggested.

"Well, I see no problem in it," Arturo said. "If someone truly loves another with their mind and heart, I would encourage they improve upon whatever relationships that they have with that said person, and to the most that is possible at the time. I think the test of whether or not a love is lasting is how much respect is shown by the amount of restraint that is exercised by those involved, since there may or may not be underlying motives to one's attraction. You are asking about _that_ kind, correct?"

"Yes," Sarik answered.

"Well then, yes, this is why a difference in age wouldn't matter to me," the Eurasian man continued. "My love could be ten years of age, and it still wouldn't matter. But I find such a connection would be highly unlikely. It was merely an example."

Sarik continued to stare off in the distance, this time in conscious, deliberate thought. He'd never seen it that light. He might have been going about this the wrong way the entire time, society's perceptions and seemingly low expectations clouding his own.

"Thank you," Sarik courtesied, making eye contact with the Eurasian born man. "Your words have been most...enlightening. I appreciate them."

"Of course," Shekrov returned.

"I think I'll be taking most of the day off," Sarik informed him. "Would you send someone for me if it looks like anything might happen?"

"Yes," Arturo complied.

* * *

Sarik slowly closed his eyes as the cool, moist air rushed over his body from the portal that stood open before him. While he didn't particularly favor the smell of the ocean, the young man didn't mind the breezes that swept over it, so long as it was a warm day. While in general, the Extended hated the extremes of temperature, the cold most so, he derived some sort of minor pleasure from being relieved from the heat by a gust of cool air. One of many experiences that he couldn't put into words very well.

As he exited the beach-side facility, one of many that made up HQ, Sarik cringed his nose slightly as the scent of the ocean grew stronger. While it wasn't unbearable, he had never found it particularly agreeable with his tastes. He'd just have to get used to it. He usually stopped noticing the odor after a few minutes.

"Obsessed with your looks, as usual," Sarik remarked at Amelia as he passed her, who was currently sprawled with her eyes closed on a blanket in nothing but a two-piece bathing suit. While he wouldn't didn't consider this particular garment's design too awfully immodest, at least when compared to the potential extremes, Sarik just couldn't feel completely comfortable seeing her in it. But, every one to their own. He could almost be considered a professor in _that_ philosophy.

"What else would you suggest I work on?" the girl questioned, never once giving Sarik the courtesy of eye-contact. "Babysitting on an isolated beach doesn't have many perks."

"You could be reading up on the Mod 0, and figuring out ways to improve the efficiency of its systems between now and tonight," Sarik suggested as he sat on the sand a meter away from his friend, staring off at Stella. The girl seemed to be content, walking ten meters or so away as she stared off at the ocean. He did notice that she seemed to be giving the water a short berth, moving further inland if the water rose any higher than her bare feet.

As he looked her over, Sarik found himself somewhat impressed by the change in Stella's choice of attire. The dress she wore today was a flowing mixture of blue and green in color, with light, semi-transparent sleeves that fell spaciously around her arms. Now if he could only get her to wear something that had absolutely no blue in it...

"You have no life," Amelia stated as she rolled onto her stomach, almost causing Sarik to let out a sigh. At least part of that problem was taken care of. "When do you think you'll have one?"

"Oh, I don't know," he remarked. "Maybe a century or two?"

Sarik didn't know what he had done, but somehow, he managed to get Amelia to grace him with a glance.

"So, what are you reading?" she inquired. For some reason, Sarik had forgotten that he was carrying anything.

"'Military Strategies and Tactics of the 21st Century'," he replied, flashing the cover at Amelia, which consisted of an exaggerated illustration of the front end of a pre-Cosmic Era tank, which was firing its cannon as a fighter jet screamed by in the background. "Used it in a paper I did during college."

"You really do need to get a life," she remarked, making no attempt to mask the disdain in her tone as she placed the top side of her right hand underneath her cheek.

"Probably not in this lifetime," Sarik conceded as he glanced off at Stella once more before flipping the book's cover open.

"And that's your problem," Amelia stated. "One of many."

"Well, thankfully, we're all entitled to our own opinions," Sarik retorted. "I'll remember to log that away next chance I get."

"And then you simply brush off anything anyone tells you when they're trying to help," the young woman continued as she began to push herself up, shaking her head in a slight fashion that had always annoyed him to death.

"Why don't you take a look at yourself one of these days?" Sarik almost snapped. "I'm willing to be that if you did so in complete honesty, you'd find a fair amount of hypocrisy."

"You're one to talk," Amelia replied as she came to a sitting position.

"Why don't we talk about a particular man named Carren, rather than about each other?" Sarik suggested.

Amelia seemed to freeze for a few seconds, not so much as breathing during that period.

"What's there to talk about?" the girl inquired.

"I don't know, but I hear that you know something about him that might be advantageous for use in future politics," Sarik told her.

Amelia averted her gaze from Sarik, leaning back on the support of her hands as she stared off at the horizon.

"I'm not supposed to talk about it," Amelia informed him. "And not for any petty reason."

Sarik glanced at the girl from the corner of his eye, lowering his book when he realized how serious she was, one of her hands having begun to tremble. Whatever thoughts or memories that were going through her head were disturbing or scaring her greatly.

"Then let's speak hypothetical," Sarik suggested. "No need to get too detailed."

Amelia continued to stare out at the ocean, her eyes tensing and relaxing every few seconds. Sarik took the moment of silence to glance out in the same direction, where Stella was playing. The waves on this side of the island generally grew stronger and more erratic at this time of day, often causing the water level to rise alarmingly fast. Not to mention that the sandy beaches only went out a few meters under the water. Further along were small shelves of coral, which could prove deadly if one got a limb caught among them.

"Promise me that he'll be taken care of," Amelia said. "If I tell you this, you have to get rid of Carren, before you or I make any rash decisions."

"I'll do my best," Sarik assured. "But I doubt it's that serious."

Amelia sighed.

"You realize that the man has a vice, and how bad it is, right?" Amelia questioned rhetorically.

"Yes, but I doubt that could be used against him," Sarik observed cockily. "He cares more about his career than anyone in his family that I know of. He would sell his wife or mother just to get a single promotion."

"And you know how long he's been doing it?" Amelia inquired.

"He probably started sometime in his thirties, if I know the man well enough," Sarik stated. "The passion between him and his wife was probably dying down as his career began to take precedence, so he found another source of appeasement."

"Well, a few years ago, he began looking at a younger crowd," Amelia almost mumbled.

Though one couldn't tell, Sarik's body had grown completely rigid. Even if a tsunami were to smash into the beach at that exact moment, he wouldn't have been able to do so much as blink. Though Sarik had never respected the man, Carren did have some limited use. But the Extended had a feeling that this was leading somewhere very sensitive for him. Something that might just cause him to start killing people in cold blood again.

"How young?" Sarik inquired a few moments later, his gaze instinctively jumping to Stella, making sure that she was safe.

"For a while, he kept it legal," Amelia informed as she pulled her legs to her chest and wrapped her arms around them. "He started around nineteen or twenty, then eighteen, then seventeen..."

"Do you have any sort of proof?" Sarik inquired; not accusingly, but in an angry, concerned way.

"I grew suspicious when one of the girls looked to be about sixteen," Amelia confessed. "I managed to record stuff later on."

"And how old was the youngest?" Sarik inquired.

"She was fourteen," Amelia admitted.

"And she was the one who confirmed your suspicions," Sarik continued, malice forming an edge on his voice. "The one who came to you and told you what happened, confused about why it happened, and distressed that she had allowed it to happen. And she was one of us, a newer arrival at the time."

"Yes," Amelia replied dryly.

"Why on EARTH didn't you tell me about this sooner?!" Sarik growled, a sneer forming on his face.

"Because you would have done something that you would regret later," Amelia told him. "And I promised her that I wouldn't tell you."

"And because you needed to use it for blackmail," Sarik speculated. "YOU are the reason that Carren did what he did after my parents died."

"And would you be here today if he hadn't?" Amelia asked forcefully.

"Probably not," Sarik retorted just as forcefully.

"Then let's leave it at that," she suggested.

Sarik sighed, allowing himself to calm. She was right. It wouldn't do well to act rashly, especially when those actions involved the unofficial leader of the Board.

"But he never ended his habits," Sarik observed. "Which means you must have quite a collection by now."

Amelia stared at Sarik with a wide-eyed expression, like he had just gone way too far.

"That's disgusting, especially coming from you," she replied.

"I'm sorry," Sarik apologized. "I'll attempt to be less liberal in the future."

Several minutes later, when it was apparent that the conversation was at an end, Sarik returned to his reading, constantly glancing up at Stella to ensure that she was safe. It seemed that the ocean continued to amuse her to no small end, as she was practically dancing in it, moving up and down the sandy shores with the waves.

Moments later, Sarik realized that he just couldn't concentrate on his book any longer. The concepts and ideas that it relayed had gone from exhilarating to shallow in a period of minutes, Sarik's unceasing thoughts easily and effectively destroying the moment. He soon found himself watching Stella intently, unwilling and unable to do anything else.

How was it that she, an Extended like him, could find so much joy in something so mundane? All the ocean consisted of was water and salt, along with trace amounts of other minerals. All that those waves consisted of were a combination of wind, currents, and tidal forces that somehow pooled enough energy to move the ocean. And all that those consisted of were...

But Sarik's thoughts practically ceased for the one time in his life as Stella spun about, her face full of pure bliss and happiness. For some reason, that alone made made her the most beautiful creature on Earth to the young man, a physical embodiment of those emotions. Because of this, her beauty was insurmountable to him.

However, everything came pouring down on Sarik at once as Stella made eye contact with him, her smile faltering for a moment before growing even larger. Sarik instantly and deliberately averted his gaze away from both her and Amelia.

But, realizing that only made him look like a fool, Sarik attempted to return to his reading. It wasn't like that. It couldn't be like that. Children were always happy to get attention. That was all.

However, Sarik instantly glared at Amelia when a small chuckle left her throat. As he turned his attention to her, he realized that the girl was grinning from ear to ear.

"What?" Sarik snapped.

"You know I'm never going to let this go, right?" Amelia remarked.

"Now you listen here, and you listen well..." Sarik started.

However, he cut himself off as he snapped his head back in the direction of the beach as he heard the crashing of water, the remnants of a large wave sweeping several meters up the shore. Stella was still visible, attempting to stay on the surface as any good swimmer would. Sarik instinctively jumped to his feet, ready to bolt to her aid, but stopped himself and remained as the water receded. Stella should have been able to gain her bearings and get to safety from where she was, as she should have been able to stand in the water there.

But for some reason, she began thrashing, and as a result of her panic, was swept out a few meters into much deeper water.

"Stella!" Sarik yelled as he bolted over the sand, making it to the water's edge in a matter of seconds. "Stella, calm down!"

Sarik waded out into the ocean, throwing up liters of water as he forced his legs through the encumbering fluid. He soon found himself stepping on hard, prickly coral, though the feeling only lasted a second as he lost his footing to the deep. But he was only about a meter away from Stella, and managed to quickly get his arms around her sides.

"Stella!" Sarik yelled when the girl's thrashing continued, threatening to force him under. For all intents and purposes, this was the stupidest thing he could have done, coming out here with nothing but his own strength to aid him. But, what other option did he have that didn't involve a drowning?

"Hey, watch it!" Sarik blurted as Stella's left elbow nearly smashed into his face. However, he was so intent on that side of her body that as Stella's other arm lashed back, the brunt of her elbow caght the man along the bridge between his nose and his right eye.

As his head plunged under the water, Sarik came to a compromise. Since trying to stay on the surface wasn't working out at all, he would just improvise. And with that very intent, Sarik kicked his legs, pulling him and his struggling ward through the salty water.

A moment later, Sarik grazed one of his feet along the submerged beach's bottom, satisfied when he felt nothing but the cold, grainy texture of sand. With all due haste, he stood erect, pulling Stella with him. As her head broke the surface, the girl let out a forceful series of coughs, followed by a single, powerful gasp.

"Sorry," Sarik apologized, but soon realized that Stella wasn't listening as she immediately began to collapse into him. Sarik sighed internally as he wrapped his left arm around her legs and lifted her into a cradle, all the while wading back towards the beach.

As they neared the water's edge, Stella averted from her distant, embarrassed composure, and looked up at Sarik, spotting where she had struck him. In apparent concern, she reached up and brushed the area with her fingers.

Sarik, ignoring the slight stinging that resulted, was confused, more on what to do than what was happening. Conceding, he made eye contact with Stella and smiled for a second, which caused Stella's expression to change from solemn to a slight grin. Sarik's own expression became more sheepish than sincere when Stella wrapped her arm around his neck.

_Just calm down, _he told himself as his smile slowly faded away. _She's just supporting herself._

"I assume this means we're going back inside?" Amelia questioned as she approached the two, her folded blanket under one arm and Sarik's book in the opposite hand.

"Unless you can think of some other ways to get someone killed out here, then yes," Sarik told her.

"Don't you have the day off?" Amelia asked rhetorically. "Why don't you teach her to swim? It seems unfitting for a soldier to not know how to swim."

"I think that's enough," Sarik remarked sternly as he helped Stella onto her feet.

But as he set her down, Sarik realized that Stella was pulling on his arm, a pleading look on her face. He quickly realized why.

"What, you actually want to?" Sarik inquired. "After that?"

"Yes," Stella told him. "I would...like that."

"Oh, lord," Sarik said under his breath. "All right. I'll see what I can do."

Sarik then glared off at Amelia.

"But could you go inside real quick?" Sarik requested, not once breaking contact with the gray-eyed blond. "Amelia and I need to speak for a moment."

Stella, apparently oblivious to what was going on, nodded, and began a slow, happy stroll back towards the nearby facility, running her hands through her hair as she began to force the water out of her hair.

"What are you doing?" Sarik inquired as Stella walked out of earshot, his face straight and serious.

"I'm just making sure that you get all the chances to love her all that you can," Amelia replied childishly as she handed Sarik his book.

"I would appreciate if you would abstain from now on," Sarik told her. "It's not like that."

"I think you're the only one who believes that," Amelia remarked.

"And so what if I am?" Sarik asked. "Is that such a bad thing?"

Amelia simply shrugged, followed by a sigh from Sarik.

"Well, what's done is done," he conceded. "Do you think she can barrow one of your suits? I doubt dresses do very well in the water."

"I'm sure I could find her something," Amelia remarked playfully as she began walking away.

"Something modest, please," Sarik practically begged as he followed.

* * *

Sarik swallowed once as he held his hand underneath Stella's back, supporting her as she attempted to float on the pool's surface.

"Now just keep your straight and relax," Sarik instructed Stella. "Breath in quickly, and breath out slowly. You float better when there's air in your lungs."

Sarik found himself staring at Stella for the thousandth time that day, and for the thousandth time that day, he quickly averted his gaze. It wasn't the innocent kind of stare this time, either, as a number of strange and often inappropriate thoughts were popping off in his head, as if part of him was taking advantage of Stella's somewhat exposing posture. Despite the fact that Amelia had done an excellent job at complying with his request, procuring a single-piece bathing suit that fit the teenage girl properly, Stella's form was still pretty exposed, more so than when she was wearing even the least modest of her dresses. If he wasn't careful, Sarik knew from observation that he could very well end up numbing himself up to the point of doing something regretful, as he thought he had once before.

However, he found little more comfort in the pool's surroundings, either, or more specifically, the individuals that loitered among them. Sarik had assumed that the large, indoor establishment would be empty in the earliest hours of the afternoon, but apparently, he had been mistaken, as there were dozens of individuals swimming laps, milling about in the shallower waters, or simply lounging along the edge. He actually found the entire situation somewhat ironic, since the pool facility was located only a few dozen meters away from the beach on the ocean-side portion of the base.

But what Sarik found most unnerving was the fact that at least ten of these individuals were paying an excessive amount of attention to him and Stella, and being quie obvious about it. A couple he recalled having encountered before, while others he had absolutely no memory of.

"What?" Sarik snapped irritably at one man nearby. He had just finished his laps and was now strolling along in the water, staring casually at the two. Upon experiencing Sarik's reaction, the employee simply widened his eyes and averted his gaze as he proceeded to climb up a ladder on the pools edge.

Sarik continued to glare at the man until he had completely vacated the water, surveying those loitering and milling about afterward. Amelia had accompanied them, of course, and was currently resting on a deck chair, apparently reading through Sarik's book. He wasn't particular concerned about it, but he felt that she could have at least asked before reading it. It belonged to him, after all.

However, the person he spotted standing next to Amelia surprised Sarik. Somehow, Aaron had located their whereabouts, and apparently was paying them a visit.

"I'll be right back," Sarik told Stella as he turned back towards her. "You think you'll be fine on your own for a little while?"

Stella turned her head slightly towards him, nodding once before returning to staring at the ceiling. Sarik didn't know what to think when her body relaxed slightly, her eyes indicating that she was in some sort of trance-like state, similar to that of when she would sit and stare out at the ocean.

After ensuring that the young girl wouldn't sink spontaneously, Sarik began wading the short distance towards pools edge, making more than a little ruckus in the process.

"How's it going?" Sarik greeted as he neared Aaron and Amelia. "Haven't seen you in a while."

"If you mean by a couple of days," Aaron murmured. "I'm doing great."

"A couple of days is a long time around here," Sarik remarked. "And good to hear it."

"So how is it going for you?" Aaron inquired with a smirk.

"Fine," Sarik replied emotionlessly. "Just giving swimming lessons."

"Then I'll let you get back to them," the younger boy said in a chuckle.

As he turned, Sarik glanced at Amelia, who had not once even remotely acknowledged his presence. As if completely oblivious to the world, she had kept her face in that book of his, the one from which she somehow had deduced he was a social decrypt. Nice to know that he was worthy of even her momentary concern. Sighing mentally, Sarik began wading back towards Stella.

"Have you had enough of that?" Sarik asked Stella as he neared her, moving more slowly as to not splash her with a small tidal wave's worth of water.

Apparently, she hadn't been paying much attention to anything until just now, as his words caused Stella to snap abruptly out of her trance and lose her posture. Before she could sink too far, Sarik got one of his arms around her body, bringing the coughing girl back onto her feet.

"Better," Sarik complimented. "Think you're ready for something else?"

After wiping the water from her eyes, the girl replied with a simple, "Uh-huh."

"All right," Sarik told Stella as he began walking towards the pool's deep end, his arm herding her along. "We're going to try something called treading. When the water gets too deep for you to stand, I want you to start moving your legs back and forth. This is what swimmers call 'kicking'. This helps to keep your head above the water."

As they continued, the water grew progressively deeper until it was up to Stella's chin. Her head suddenly rose in the water, and he realized that she was trying to stand on her toes.

"You can probably start now," Sarik told the girl as he loosened his hold on her.

As he felt the water began to move around him, Sarik started to move away, watching Stella beat her legs underneath the surface.

"All right, good," Sarik said as her head bobbed on the surface. "Now begin moving your arms in a downward circular motion, forcing the water below you."

Sarik continued to observe, somewhat impressed that she was picking on this so quickly, though by no means surprised. At least now he wouldn't have to worry as much if they ever went back out to the beach.

However, Sarik quickly realized that he had spoke too soon, as Stella began kicking her legs together simultaneously, and in desperate, forceful jabs rather than the circular motions that normally came naturally to most people. As a result, her routine began to falter, and she began forcing her arms up and down in cadence with her kicks, causing her to violently bob up and down on the surface.

Trying to give Stella a chance, Sarik decided to wait a few seconds before intervening. However, the girl's head went under, and everything completely broke down from there. She began flailing as she had earlier, and sank like a rock.

Sarik jumped up slightly in the water, gaining just enough air to dive forcefully into the water towards Stella. After stroking once, he found himself close enough to grab her. While wrapping his arms around the girl's flailing body, Sarik planted his feet into the pool's bottom and pushed the two of them towards the shallower end of the pool.

However, even after they broke the surface, Stella didn't realize that she was safe, and continued flailing, once more becoming a haphazard to Sarik, who himself was up to his neck in the water even while standing.

"Stella, it's okay," Sarik said in a calm, firm tone.

Attempting to provide her some physical reassurance, Sarik propped his right leg against his left and hoisted Stella onto it, lifting her head well above the water's surface. He got an immediate reaction out of the girl, her thrashing quickly calming to a slow stroking of the water with her arms.

"It's all right," Sarik assured soothingly, more for himself than her.

At least now he knew what was causing her to panic. Stella seemed to be completely fine until the water went over her head, even if only for a short period. But as great as it was to understand what triggered her phobia of the water, Sarik still needed to understand its source, its origin. After going over several possibilities, it quickly occurred to him that he might have very well been the source of this. The only time that he could remember her ever being in the water was eleven years ago, during their failed escape from the facility. She had nearly drowned then.

"Stella, can we try something?" Sarik asked. He wasn't going to do anything about it without her permission. That would be both deceitful and, to him, just flat out cruel. He didn't want to hurt her feelings in anyway, but Stella still needed to break this fear.

After catching her breath, Stella simply nodded her head. Sarik took note of that, since it had partially been a test. She had agreed without even questioning what he wanted of her. He would have to do something about this almost instantaneous submissiveness of hers. He knew that even he would take advantage of it sometime in the future if it was left unchecked.

"Are you sure?" Sarik questioned. "I want to take you underwater. We don't have to if you don't want to."

All he received from Stella was a most nasty glare, though one of her hands was trembling slightly. It was settled.

"All right, I want you to take a big breath and hold it in," Sarik told her. "Then I want you to hold onto me as tight as you can. Okay?"

And as he asked, Stella did so, gulping in an exaggerated breath while forcing herself as close to Sarik as humanly possible. Maybe she was doing TOO good a job of what he asked.

Without further due, Sarik took his own breath and practically threw himself into the water, causing Stella's grip to become even stronger. However, he pulled himself along, and a few strokes later, he and Stella were at least a meter under the pool's surface, even while standing. Sarik reached over with his left arm and began prying Stella away from his body, though she countered by clinging even more stubbornly to him. Sarik would have sighed if he had the time and air, but instead, he placed his hands on her waist and forced her away, her arms gripping desperately on his shoulders. But he tightened his own grip on her, and the girl seemed to loosen up a bit, releasing him. And as her body relaxed, Sarik realized that he had actually succeeded against his assumption that this wouldn't work, at least not the first time. Stella made eye contact with him, and he realized that she was in complete control of herself.

Sarik smiled slightly, though it was unlikely that she would be able to see it through the water. The young man loosened his grip on Stella, intent on allowing her to float under her own discretion; however, as he pulled his arms closer to his body, the girl reached out and grabbed his left, her eyes serious as she lightly held him.

Sarik almost panicked, but Stella beat him to it, flailing her left arm in an attempt to stay down. He would have smacked himself on his head if he could. She must be running out of air. And of course, she wasn't going to contradict an "order".

Sarik placed his hands on Stella's sides once more and kicked off of the bottom of the pool forcefully, their heads breaking the surface of the water a few seconds later. And rather than flailing, Stella simply floated there, that same straight-faced, serious-as-hell look on her face.

However, before anything could become of it, Sarik spotted Arturo standing at the entrance to the pool area. It was time.

* * *

Sarik continued to rubbing the towel over his head with a passion, trying to get his hair dry. One could appropriately assume that it would be easier to complete the task with as short of a cut as he had, but for some reason, the young Extended seemed to always retain a part of the things that he was exposed to, both figuratively and literally.

"Who made the first move?" Sarik questioned as he pulled his robe more securely around his body. The lounge was in the same recreational facility as the pool, so he hadn't had the distance to travel in order to make a detour and properly change. Nor had Stella or Amelia, who were right behind him in their own robes. In the back of his mind, Sarik was glad for at least this, after having to see them for the past couple of hours in their swim wear. Just wasn't something that he was completely comfortable with.

"ZAFT," Shekrov replied. "As you know, they sent an ultimatum demanding Logos's and their Earth Alliance sympathizer's unconditional surrender a few hours ago. I figured that if something is going to happen, it will happen in the next hour or so, since ZAFT just called in the news choppers."

"Idiots," Sarik said. "They should have just launched the operation. All they've done is warn Heaven's Base that they're ready."

"You know how Durandal works," Shekrov reminded Sarik. "The 'humanitarian'."

"Of course," Sarik remarked sarcastically as he flipped on the TV monitor, immediately after taking comfort in a large, cushioned chair nearby.

"I'm reporting live from above Heaven's Base," reported the newsman from the television, apparently from a ship located along the fleet's rear line. "The deadline Chairman Durandal set draws closer with every passing minute. Only three hours are left until it expires. However, as of this moment, there has been no response from the Alliance forces. Should the deadline pass with no reply, the ZAFT and anti-Logos coalition forces, acting under the leadership of Chairman Durandal, will most assuredly open fire on Heaven's Base. This could be a significant blow to the Alliance, since this is their greatest stronghold, which includes military factories as well as the base facilities themselves. Should there be a battle, it would most likely be of a violent nature, with little quarter given by either side."

Sarik took in the view as the scene shifted to that of the view of a camera located on one of one of the many news helicopters hovering about the rear end of the ZAFT battle lines. Sarik took note of the positioning of the combined fleets, as the Earth Alliance ships were conveniently located at the front of the massive formation, with ZAFT's own submarine carriers located several hundred meters behind them, the trans-atmospheric battleship _Minerva_ at their center.

The helicopter continued to provide an excellent view of the fleet for the next few minutes, perhaps even a little too excellent. However, it suddenly veered to the side and darted away from the force when the front most ships' CIWS and anti-aircraft guns opened up, followed by the destructive explosions of several destroyers and cruisers as hundreds of cruise missiles and hyper-velocity shells suddenly bombarded the area without warning.

"A staggering turn of events!" the reporter suddenly exclaimed. "Heaven's base has launched a preemptive attack! There was no response; in fact, there wasn't even a declaration of hostilities. They just opened fire!"

Sarik smirked as he spotted the first wave of attackers approaching; hundreds of Windams, several Euclid mobile armors, and even a few of the original, dated versions of the Daggers. It had begun, and very much so with a bang.

However, before any of them were within range, the helicopter had moved outside of the battle zone, its cameras no longer able to concentrate on the smoldering conflict.

"Well, that certainly makes things interesting," Sarik remarked coldly. "Arturo, do we have any other sources?"

"Give me just a moment," he told Sarik as he activated the lounge's idling computer.

And in just a moment, the television suddenly changed channels, providing them with an unparalleled view of the battlefield.

"What is this?" Sarik inquired.

"Our informant," Shekrov informed him. "He transmitted us the frequencies to several of the AWAC DINNs just before the fleet moved out."

"Well, that was certainly kind of him," Sarik stated. "Be certain to give him a..."

However, Sarik was cut off as his mouth fell slightly open in awe as the front line of Alliance ships suddenly disappeared in a massive wave of red, the ships exploding instantly under the barrage of energy.

The camera began shaking, and suddenly zoomed in on a formation of five objects. As it focused in and adjusted, Sarik immediately realized what they were. Destroys.

"Shut it off!" Sarik ordered as he jumped up, moving to impede everyone's view of the monitor.

"But-," Arturo started.

"NOW!" Sarik roared as he moved in front of Stella, bending down and pulling her protectively into his embrace, her head forced into one of his shoulders.

A moment later, the television cut off; but Sarik continued to hold Stella, his breathing heavy and strained.

"I apologize," Arturo told Sarik sympathetically. "I'll leave."

"That's fine," Sarik huffed, slowly loosening Stella out of his grip.

"I think I'll be going, too," Amelia remarked, practically stumbling as she attempted to vacate the room as quickly as possible. Aaron, who had somehow slipped in without Sarik's notice, followed silently behind her.

As Sarik calmed his breathing, he progressively loosened his grip on Stella, though she made no attempt to move herself away from him. A few seconds later, when he felt that he was back in control, Sarik lightly pulled Stella in front of him so that they were sitting face to face.

"Sorry," he told his old friend sadly, his hands holding the sides of her arms. "I'm so very sorry."

"For what?" Stella asked softly, reaching up with her left arm and intertwining it around his right.

Though Sarik's initial response was to break away from her gesture, he refrained from it. They were friends, and she was apparently trying to calm him. It seemed no matter how old, people generally had an understanding of the soothing nature of such gestures.

"You didn't need to see that," Sarik stated as he sat down next to her, allowing the embrace of their arms to be sustained, even to the extent of contributing to it with his own grip. "I really am sorry. I shouldn't have brought you."

"I know," Stella said, averting her gaze to the floor as her expression turned from concerned to solemn. "I already know."

"About what?" Sarik inquired.

Stella's grip suddenly grew tighter.

"Berlin," she replied, her eyes closing as she lowered her head, as if to show reverence.

Sarik's eyes widened slightly in surprise, but quickly narrowed back down, an unconscious expression of his pity for her. To have to live with that would eat her alive, inside and out. Having to know that she had killed people in cold blood. Not just ZAFT soldiers, but innocents, also. No one was still quite certain of the number of casualties; Sarik had stopped keeping up when the total number of confirmed deaths exceeded three hundred thousand, and that number was released right after Durandal made his declaration of war on Logos. It had been over a week since then, the number bolstered by the addition of those who were still technically missing, but assumed deceased. Most likely, they would never be found, due to the nature of the weapons used.

But what did this mean for him? It was true that Sarik could never look at Stella the same since he discovered her involvement, but he had continued treating her as the innocent child that he wanted to see her as. And since she had seemed to not have a full awareness of what she had done, or even the memories of having committed those horrible acts, he was able to. But now, she knew, and she seemed to truly understand what she had done. She was no longer the innocent little girl that she had been when he first rescued her. And because of that, he could no longer treat her as such.

Now, he had a choice. He could treat her as he would any other soldier; with the the coldness and mutual respect of one seasoned killer to another. Or, he could do something else. He could try to preserve that feeling of innocence, since Stella truly was guiltless of what she had done. Those sins fell upon the heads of her overlords, the men of Logos. And hopefully, they would all soon be dead, if Sarik's prayers were answered, with few of their mindless soldiers harmed in the process. But realistically, he knew neither would happen.

Bu above all of that, he WOULD make Stella realize that she was blameless. Even if it killed him.

Sarik sighed, then broke his grasp with Stella and reached over, wrapping his now freed arm around her body and pulling her close to him.

"It's wasn't your fault," Sarik told her when he was sure she wasn't resisting, staring straight ahead in the process. "Don't ever let yourself believe that it was."

Sarik pulled Stella closer to himself when she remained completely still and silent as if her mind were in a completely different place, hoping that it wasn't the wrong thing to do. All of this was completely new to him.

"Please don't be like this, Stella," Sarik cooed, resting his head on the back of hers. "We'll never talk about I again. Just _please_ don't blame yourself. I know how much it can hurt. You don't have to. I don't want you to."

And he didn't. Sarik tried to never wish ill for anyone, even the most cruel of creatures. He had allowed his brother to live, despite the fact that at one time he had a knife at the man's throat and had every reason to kill him. And even to this day, even though Sarik often questioned how much of a mistake that was, he didn't regret that decision.

"Stella, please come back," Sarik pleaded softly. "Come back to me. I don't want to lose you again. You don't know how much I missed you."

When she still wouldn't respond, Sarik began stroking her arm with his hand, mostly for himself. She needed his support, and he was failing miserably at providing it. He truly didn't want to lose her again. He had lost so many loved ones in his life. He didn't want to lose anyone else, as it would be even more torturous to have to see that person day after day and still have completely lost them, all because of his own ineptness.

And while he had lived so long without it, Sarik realized that he wanted Stella's support and truth. Not needed, but _wanted_. The desire transcended all reason. It did with any of those that he cared for, but there was something unique about this desire, even more than normal. Every one of his relationships had started out this way, but simultaneously, they hadn't. The relationship he had with Sarah was worlds apart from the one he had with Amelia, just as theirs was worlds apart from the ones he had with Aaron, or Reia, or even Ari. Each was unique, and to compare one to another was like trying to compare the fruits of the tropics, as each had its own, special savor.

But the one he had with Stella, it was the most powerful. Theirs had transcended space and time against all odds. And the intensity of his desire was agonizing. Even if only by moments, she had been his first true friend, their understanding having always been beyond physical description. She had been the first person other than his parents that he had cared for and loved. From her, he had learned what it truly meant to take one as his charge, to protect at the cost of every one of his luxuries and needs. And when she was taken from him, in all truth, it had nearly killed him.

And now, he risked losing her again, this time to the invisible threat of sorrow and regret. Once one fell into the abyss of this deadly foe, they were never the same. And as selfish as it sounded, he didn't want Stella to change. Despite the years, the parts of her that had brought him to her had never changed. And he loved her just like that.

As Sarik began to doze, he suddenly felt Stella moving beneath him, moving closer to him. She looked up at him, the same serious look from the pool domination her beautiful features.

"Never?" she asked him, her left hand gripping the part of his robe near his chest.

Sarik almost felt like crying, but hid it well, and reached down, planting a quick, light kiss on Stella's forehead.

"Never," he promised her as he smoothly snapped his head back, not completely sure of what he had just done.

Stella forced herself closer to him, averting her gaze back to nowhere. But as she closed her eyes, she smiled slightly, and that alone in itself got a smirk from Sarik.

And once more, he now had to question what he had just done. What had just told Stella without completely realizing it? And what he was telling himself? Had he truly been acting on impulse? Or had he simply let his defenses down, acting on what had already been there? Had he felt like this always, without wanting to admit it? Had the jests of his friends truly been jokes, or simply them trying to tell him something that was so obvious without insulting him?

But she was just a child! Even if she felt the same as him, how did he know it simply wasn't a momentary thing, a temporary attraction that would disappear with time? It had happened to him before. He'd entered into a relationship with Amelia years before with the intention of being safe, placing himself in a position to experience things without the risk of any more hurt, as they had always been open and frank with each other, the result of an understanding that took years to develop. And then, he thought he was starting to have feelings for her, but they disappeared as abruptly as they had come. Who was to say this wasn't simply his body playing tricks on him again?

But before any more doubts could settle into his mind, Sarik realized that he and Stella had been sitting there like that for several minutes. And what brought him to that realization was the fact that she was staring back up at him.

And before Sarik realized it, Stella had reached up and planted a kiss on his cheek.

Instantly, he felt himself blushing, and every possible good feeling went off in his body at once, never as it had before. And a moment later, a most powerful urge began to overtake him, an urge to return that kiss several times over.

And upon that realization, Sarik carefully broke his embrace with Stella, bringing his walls back up. This was exactly what he was afraid of. He was losing control of himself, and he wasn't about to let that happen. He was never going to let anything control him again. Never again...

"Thank you," Sarik told Stella softly as he scooted away from her a couple centimeters, looking away from her. "I...um..."

Sarik caught a glimpse of Stella from the corner of his eye, shutting his mouth and sighing when he saw her hurt, confused expression.

"It's nothing you did," Sarik assured her, a slight but sincere smile on his face. "I really...liked that, I guess."

Stella's expression lightened, back to the serious, caring look that Sarik had now experienced from her for the third time in his life. In fact, for the third time today, too.

"I don't think I say this often enough, but I love you," Sarik told her gravely, looking away as he went straight-faced. "I really do. You've... you've been the best friend that I ever had. Always."

Sarik continued looking away, though now in more relief than embarrassment. He had finally got that off of his chest, and now that he had, he realized that there was so much more he wanted to tell her. And he might, someday. Maybe when she was older, if this new but simultaneously ancient feeling remained. And he wanted it to. He truly wanted it to. Every fiber of his being did.

And now, how could he end this without screwing anything up? What could he say that had the least potential to hurt Stella? They were both in a sensitive spot, having been this liberal with each other.

"Stella, I need to ask you something," Sarik told Stella, looking back at her. "May I?"

Stella, after situating herself on the edge of the couch, nodded, still staring at Sarik.

"Tonight, I'm leaving again," he informed her. "I'm going somewhere a ways away, and I don't know when I'll be back. I want to know if you would like to come with me."

Stella began to nod, but Sarik quickly interrupted her with a raised hand.

"I don't want you to just say yes," Sarik said. "This isn't fun and games. I am going off to fight. To try to rescue others like us. And if you come, you will probably end up in the fighting, too."

Stella slowly looked away from him, sighing as she lowered her head and closed her eyes once more, though this time it was more like resignation. Great. The more he spoke, the worse he was making things.

"I want to be completely honest with you, and nothing less from now on," Sarik confessed. "I wanted to keep you away from all of this. I wanted to protect you."

And suddenly, Stella's head snapped up, and she was staring straight at him, as if something he said had struck a chord in her. That was good. He was getting through to her.

"But I can't make your decisions for you," Sarik conceded. "And that's what I've been trying to do; pretty much what I have been doing. I want you to make this decision on your own, and without my wishes bothering you. But I want you to make a decision that you can live with. I want you to take a few minutes to truly think everything over before you decide."

And with that, Sarik looked up at the ceiling, closing his eyes as the weight of his own conscience was lifted. He had done it. Now, everything was in her hands. And no matter what, he would support her decision, all the way to the bitter end.

A couple minutes later, Sarik felt a tugging on his arm, and looked down at Stella, who was practically cuddling against it in the same fashion as when they would walk together. On her face was a straight, serious expression, but yet, she was projecting some sort of happiness, accompanied by a determined eagerness.

"Let me go with you," Stella told him.

It was settled.

"Then let me protect you," Sarik requested. "Nothing would make me happier."

And with that, he placed a kiss on his most beloved friend's cheek, which was almost instantly returned, from which he once more moved away in an embarrassed fashion once more. For a few seconds, Sarik wondered how much he would regret it, how much it would hurt in the future to think back on this small act. But he quickly quelled his thoughts as he stood, Stella moving with him. There were more important things to worry about, now. No need to trample on the momentary joy that he felt with pointless doubt.


	25. Chapter 24

**CE 68**

Thirteen-year-old Sarik Ostheim continued down the long, empty corridor, eager to leave the school as quickly as possible. Not only had today been one of the most stressful in recent memory, pushing him to his mental limits, but the suit-and-tie school uniform that the school required required him to wear was beginning to bug the absolute crap out of him.

It was his final month of middle school, and Sarik was all the more happy for it. While he hadn't had to deal with _too_ many social problems since he'd moved up to his current grade, every time he walked into a room, the only feelings he seemed to experience were those of awkwardness and discomfort. The fact that he rarely spent more than six months in each grade might have been a contributing factor to his situation.

But today especially, something just seemed wrong, out of place. When he had been introduced into his first high school level class, a nagging sensation had formed in the back of his mind, the feeling only growing worse as each hour of the day passed by. Now, it had grown to a level that brought him a great deal of concern. It was almost as if his mind already knew something was going to happen, something that he was completely oblivious to consciously.

Sarik sighed as he typed in the combination to the door on his locker and pulled it open. He had always feared that this day would come. A small number of the more prestigious members of Blue Cosmos had their children attending this very academy, who over time, had begun forming their own neo-Blue Cosmos in the form of bully groups and small gangs. This combined with that fact that his status as a "Coordinator" was by no means a secret meant that it was only a matter of time before something was bound to happen.

And as Sarik perceived two sets of footsteps coming from down the hallway, he conceded to this fact. He quickly glanced around, then berated himself for getting caught here alone, since there were no cameras that scanned over his current position. In fact, the internal security of this school was quite lax when compared that of a normal public school. What had his father been thinking?

_Just calm down, _Sarik told himself. _Fast, controlled breaths. Keep the heart rate accelera__ted but under control. Don't snap._

But as his locker was slammed close right in front of his face, Sarik found it all for naught, his breathing and heat rate racing. For about the past two years, he'd found it increasingly more difficult to control his aggression. He had technically hit puberty while he was at the Blue Cosmos facility, an expected side-effect of the growth acceleration, so his body was now equivalent to that of someone two or three years his senior, albeit being significantly shorter. And apparently, that was an age when a male's natural aggression was usually at its peak.

"You're the new guy, right?" a towering brunette boy said, his hand holding Sarik's locker closed.

"May I inquire as to what you mean?" Sarik questioned, his arms folded as he slowly turned towards the older male, who was apparently accompanied by a slightly younger lackey, this one red-haired.

"In our class," the young man clarified, pushing away from the locker and moving towards Sarik.

"Yes," Sarik answered, moving his right foot behind his left in anticipation for a fight. If he did this correctly, he could take both of them down before they had any kind of a chance to respond. Until he had met Takeo, Sarik had managed to quickly take down every one of the hand-to-hand combat instructors that his parents had hired, even significantly injuring the arm of the first. Now, he had come to respect anyone who challenged him, as one never knew of what they were capable. Takeo certainly didn't look it at first.

"You must be doing pretty well for yourself to be this far ahead," the brunette remarked as he stopped half meter from Sarik. "You're what, fourteen, fifteen?"

"Thirteen, actually," Sarik responded calmly, allowing himself to relax slightly. Maybe he might have just been overreacting.

"Oh, really?" the brunette questioned, smirking. "You must be some sort of genius. Could you remind me what your name is?"

"Sarik," the boy replied confidently.

"Ostheim?" the brunette prodded.

Sarik glanced warily at the nearby redhead. He hadn't said a single word the entire time. He'd only been glaring at Sarik in the most unnerving way, an almost hateful fashion.

"Yes," Sarik answered cautiously, tensing his stomach and chest muscles slightly.

"Well, why don't you come with us?" the brunette asked, putting a forceful hand on Sarik's shoulder. "There's something cool that we'd like to show you."

"Thanks, but I have to be somewhere soon," Sarik told him, trying to sound as sincere as possible. Which wasn't difficult, considering that it was the truth.

In response to that remark, the redhead rolled his eyes and advanced on the two, causing Sarik to tense every muscle in his body.

"Cut the shit," the boy remarked, his movements becoming very threatening all of the sudden. "Let's just get this over with."

And that was the only excuse that Sarik needed. Snapping like a scared house cat, Sarik curled the tips of the fingers in his right hand as he shot his arm forward. Forcing his wrist out, the boy managed to direct the palm strike immediately below the brunette's sternum, catching him in the diaphragm. Normally, such a blow was saved for the face, due to the number of bones that could be easily broken, but when an attack that powerful got up underneath one's ribs, the results could be deadly.

As the teenage boy before him released Sarik's shoulder and gasped desperately for air, Sarik used his freed left arm to smash the deceiver's head into the solid steel lockers. The young man slid to the ground, most likely unconscious.

Sarik turned towards the redhead, whose advance had only accelerated. However, the boy was obviously very inexperienced in combat, as he was bringing to bear a sloppy backhand blow while still charging. Sarik easily ducked under this attack, forcing the other boy's right hand against his body and bringing his right knee up into his crotch.

Now, normally, such a blow most likely would have just stunned a boy as old and large as the redhead, perhaps even caused him to wobble a little at the knees. But this was not a weak, undirected attack from an everyday Natural; this was a deliberate, well-aimed attack from someone so experienced, so well trained, that he could kill individuals several times his size. The redhead hadn't even a fraction of a second to so much as think before the excruciating pain plunged him into unconsciousness.

Sarik glanced over at the brunette once before bolting down the hallway. He had to distance himself as far away from this place as he could. It didn't matter if he started the fight or not; if it was discovered that he was the one who defeated those two, he would be in more trouble than he could imagine. Well, more trouble than MOST boys could imagine.

* * *

Sarik stared at the two weapons that sat on the desk before him, trying to determine if they could be modified for his needs or not. He knew that he was particularly adept with staff-like weapons, something that he had discovered recently during his sparring sessions with Takeo, which is why he had spent the past two hours trying to find something with which he could defend himself at school.

However, one could not simply carry such a weapon onto school grounds conspicuously. He had to somehow fashion a similar tool into a more compact form, thus the reason he had smuggled a pair of collapsible batons from his instructor's training equipment. It wasn't like they used them, anyway.

His current obstacle was connecting the two batons at their bases in a way that would remain strong and steady without impeding his use of the resulting staff during a fight. He had an entire list of ideas written down on a piece of paper next to him, most of them scribbled out after being eliminated by reason or failed implementation. The most realistic idea he had left was to use an industrial-grade resign to bond the two, but he had neither that nor a cylindrical mold to ensure that it set correctly. And it was doubtful that one would find so much as a supermarket in this direction, much less a hardware store. He would probably have to drive all the way to Berlin to find any sort of store that sold such supplies, and he couldn't do that without a good reason, or risk raising suspicion.

As Sarik rubbed his head in frustration, an idea came to him. He'd completely forgotten that Sarah was returning from the Extended facility in the Pacific today. After searching "plastic epoxy" on his computer, he managed to find just what he was looking for.

As he printed out the specifics, Sarik dialed in a number from memory on his cell phone and waited a few rings.

"Hello?" said Sarah's voice cautiously. "Who is this?"

Sarik forgot. This number was her private secure line. He was supposed to use the other.

"Hi," the boy greeted sheepishly. "It's Sarik."

"Oh, hi," Sarah responded. "Sorry I haven't called you. Just got in."

"Oh, no, it's fine," Sarik assured. "Actually, I was wondering if you could help me with something."

"What is it?" his mentor questioned.

"Well, I have this project for school, and I can't seem to be able to find most of the stuff I need around the house," he informed her. "Do you think you could help me find someplace that does?"

"I should be able to," Sarah told him. "It might be an hour or so before I get there, though."

"Where are you?" Sarik inquired.

"Berlin," Sarah replied. "I literally just got in."

"Do you think I could meet you somewhere in the city?" Sarik asked. "I can have my driver take me there."

"If it's all right with your parents," Sarah said sternly. "I told you before, I'm not going behind their backs ever again. They're still mad at me about Aaron and Amelia, you know."

"I know, I know," Sarik assured. "I'll call you back in a minute."

"Sounds fine," Sarah stated. "_And use the other line_."

As he hung up, Sarik smirked. This was getting to be too easy.

* * *

Sarik cut through the air with his newly forged weapon, striking an imaginary opponent in the side. He quickly followed through with a spinning strike to the head from the staff's opposing end.

After cutting through the air for a few more seconds, Sarik was satisfied. The two batons hadn't set as quite as well as he had intended, causing the resulting weapon to be less than straight. However, there was no wobble in the entire construction, and everything was pretty much balanced out when he wrapped some insulator foam around where he intended to grip the staff. So far, his attacks were unhindered, so the weapon would serve its purpose adequately.

After taking a moment to catch his breath, Sarik suddenly burst into action, letting out a flurry of attacks at an imaginary group, blocking and dodging his opponents' many blows.

However, Sarik got so caught up in his practice that he failed to observe his surroundings, and the lamp that set on his bedside dresser was soon nothing more than hundreds of finely shattered shards of glass.

As he heard footsteps coming up the stairs, Sarik quickly scrambled to collapse his new weapon and toss it underneath his bed. It would do him no good to get caught with it now.

* * *

Sarik stalked quickly through the hallways. He had no doubt about it. Someone was definitely following him. Actually, multiple someones, and from ultiple directions. He had to get to his locker. He had to get to his weapon.

As he arrived at the storage device, Sarik was already attempting to mash the combination onto the keypad, causing him to skip the first two digits. He growled at himself as the lock let out a low-pitched beep. Calming himself, the Extended quickly input the correct code, causing the locker to pop itself slightly ajar.

Sarik just barely managed to get a grip on his baton staff with his left hand before he felt himself being slammed into the locker next to the right of his

As the Extended gained his bearings, he realized that the perpetrator was none other than the brunette from a few days before. Except this time, he was accompanied by four lackeys, the redhead absent among them.

"You know you hurt our friend, right?" the boy holding Sarik informed. "He's going to have to get surgery because of you."

Sarik smirked. There was no point in replying. These boys had come for vengeance. No amount of logic would sway them, so he wasn't going to waste the time. Not to mention that he was proud of himself for possibly rendering the fool from yesterday infertile.

The brunette had been concentrating so much on beating Sarik that he hadn't taken the time to realize that the Extended's arm was still partially in his locker. And that he was holding a fat, stick-shaped object with holes on either end. Nor did he notice that Sarik had just put pressure on two points towards the middle of the said stick.

Sarik directed one end towards the brunette's neck, and in one swift motion, snapped his arm forward, holding the object like a spear. And just as the baton's segments snapped into place, its tip made contact with the offender's throat.

As the boy reflexively loosed his hold, Sarik swept one of his feet forward, sliding it behind his attacker's leg and pulling back towards him, tripping the brunette. The older boy fell to the ground, and Sarik dispatched him by bringing his foot down on his temple, causing the attacker to fall into unconsciousness.

Sarik brought his body into stance, his short staff held horizontal to his body in preparation for an offensive. While these were only Naturals that he was fighting, he would prefer to not have to take on four opponents at once. That simply wasn't the smartest way to go about things. However, at the moment, the four of them blocked all avenues for escape. And from the looks of it, they weren't all that intimidated, despite the fact that he had completely incapacitated their leader in less than five seconds.

_So be it, _Sarik told himself as he moved into a low crouch and leaped towards the nearest two.

Sarik had planned on making this quick and relatively painless, but he soon realized this was impossible as the two boys before him each drew a blade, the shorter of the two weapons being sixteen or seventeen centimeters long.

Sarik heard running behind him and turned, halting his advance as he realized that the two he had left at his back were each armed with batons, the crackling devices attached to their tips indicating that the weapons had TASER functions built into them. Those were the immediate threat, because if they were set high enough to take down a Coordinator, which they most likely were, a poor fate would be imminent if they made contact with his skin.

As the boys began to encircle him, Sarik slowed and moved cautiously back towards the lockers. At least if he had his back to wall, there was only an angle of one hundred eighty degrees from which he could be attacked.

As the boys stalked cautiously forward, Sarik began searching manically for a way out. This wasn't what he was used to. He knew how to fight defensively, but not this way. Not against four men armed with lethal weapons such as theirs. There was just no way out.

But as Sarik listened to himself think, his eyes narrowed. What was wrong with him? He had broken out of a Blue Cosmos facility when he was only eight years old. Why should this have to be any different? While taking Takeo's lessons to heart wasn't necessarily a bad thing, while trying to become a civilized person was probably a good thing, was it right for him to let them make him weaker? Of course not.

After taking a deep breath and calming himself, Sarik jumped back onto the offensive, charging to his right at one of the knife-wielders. Rather than attacking the boy directly, however, Sarik switched things up, spinning around and using the back end of his staff to catch the boy in the hand and send his knife flying. Sarik followed through, bringing the same end of the staff around and into the boy's shin, and as his opponent fell to the floor, Sarik brought his foot up and kicked him in the side of the neck. Thankfully, there wasn't the definate snapping sound of a spine breaking, so Sarik assumed the boy to merely be unconscious as he lay unmoving on the floor.

As expected, the next closest attacker moved in on Sarik as soon as the Extended had begun the attack on his comrade. Knowing this, Sarik spun about, forcing the back end of his staff into the boy's rib cage. This time, an audible cracking sound was heard as the boy fell back from the force of the blow, writhing in pain.

But Sarik knew it wasn't over as he lashed out, causing one of the remaining boys to stop in his tracks and leap back. Taking the offensive, the Extended charged across the meter that separated them and swept his baton staff at his attacker's legs. However, he was just barely blocked as Sarik's opponent brought his own weapon in to impede the attack.

Having no time left for another strike, Sarik spun his staff about to defend against the attack from his other opponent, who had circled around beside him. For a split second, the baton's tip was a few centimeters from Sarik's face, and the crackling electricity that he could see coming from it was ample evidence to prove his prior assumptions.

As he swiftly counterattacked and blocked again, Sarik began to wonder: how did these young men procure such weapons? All were illegal to sell to a minor, but these batons especially weren't often used by civilians. They were generally used by law enforcement and security forces who weren't licensed to carry firearms. The most likely scenario was that Sarik's attackers had obtained their weapons from adults.

However, Sarik's thoughts were abruptly shattered as he felt jolt shoot up his body. It wasn't a particularly painful feeling, just surprising. But for some reason, his movements had suddenly become extremely sluggish. As he glanced down at his side, Sarik spotted where a patch of his uniform had charred off, exposing raw, bleeding flesh.

Sarik was thinking about how peculiar this was when suddenly, he was laying on the ground. He didn't even remember falling. He was just on the ground. He felt another jolt shoot up his body as one of the boys forced some sort of object onto his leg. Then the other touched him for a moment on the arm. And then the other touched his object to Sarik's stomach.

For some reason, this time it was painful. Excruciatingly so. Sarik glanced off at one of them. What were they doing? Why were they doing this? Who were they?

Then, as one of his antagonizers prodded him on the chest, it all hit Sarik, and every one of his senses came back to him. Every whisper was an explosion, every sight was as though under a microscope, and every feeling was amplified one hundred times over.

Sarik let out a yell in pain as the electrodes made contact with his skin again. He wanted to respond, he wanted to KILL them, but every time their batons touched him, his body curled up involuntarily. He was helpless.

Sarik prepared to yell with the next strike, but the pain never came. He opened his eyes as one of the boys fell on top of him, as though the air were being squeezed from his lungs. Looking over, Sarik spotted Aaron, forcing one of the shock batons into the other of his attacker's neck. As the young man fell to the ground, unconscious, Sarik began the process of slowly sliding out from underneath the unconscious boy on top of him.

"Why the hell are YOU here?" Sarik growled as he braced himself against a nearby locker, shakily climbing to his feet. "I told you to meet me in the car!"

Aaron opened his mouth to speak, but before he could, something dark completely enveloped Sarik's vision, and a powerful stinging sensation was all the boy could feel as he fell back to the floor. He realized he'd just been slapped.

"Why didn't you tell us?!" Amelia yelled, her gray eyes burning into Sarik's mind.

"I'm going to get in big trouble for this," Sarik retorted forcefully. "I don't want to get you involved!"

"You idiot!" Amelia roared, slapping Sarik across the face again. "We're FRIENDS. We're SUPPOSED to get involved. We're supposed to be helping each other!"

As Amelia brought her hand back to slap Sarik again, he spotted something rolling down her cheek. A tear? Why was she crying? This wasn't something that one should be crying about, was it?

But then, she wasn't like him. Neither was Aaron. All three of them were very different people. And now that he thought on it, he probably understood why Amelia was crying. He'd betrayed their trust by doing this on his own. He'd betrayed HER trust.

Sighing mentally, Sarik jumped up and caught Amelia's hand before she could strike him. When she attempted to struggle, he grabbed her other hand.

"I'm sorry," Sarik told her quickly, causing her to stop. "I'm sorry to both of you. I'll do my best to make sure it doesn't happen again."

Suddenly, something caught Sarik's attention. Footsteps.

"Both of you, you have to go," Sarik whispered, releasing Amelia. "Now!"

Aaron nodded and ran silently down the corridor towards the school entrance, but Amelia stood there, staring angrily at Sarik. She really was betrayed, wasn't she?

"You have to go!" Sarik told her quietly. "I promise, it won't happen again."

Amelia glared at him for a second longer, then abruptly bolted after Aaron, rolling her feet so well that she didn't make even the slightest of sound. Sarik stared off at her for a moment, thinking about how scary it would be to have to have to fight her in an environment such as this.

Sarik was about to slump back to the floor, but as he surveyed over the area one last time, he realized that his original antagonizer, the brunette, was laying there on his side, a tiny pistol pointed at Sarik. From what he could tell, it was a .22 caliber pistol with a shortened magazine. Perfect for a situation such as this.

But how had the bastard sneaked it through? There were metal detectors at every entrance. Even if the weapon itself was ceramic, the ammunition had to contain metal. Unless, of course, it was custom made. And only the most wealthy of assassins would have the resources and need for such a weapon.

As the boy fired his first shot, Sarik fell down onto all four legs, then leaped forward, grabbing up one of the batons and one of the knives from the ground as he passed by them.

As the brunette got to his feet and leaned up against the locker, he fired another, most quiet round at Sarik. The Extended dodged to his right, cocking his right arm back as he prepared to throw the stun baton that he held. Just as he was about to release the stun weapon, the gunman let loose, several bullets flying in Sarik's direction. Intentionally tripping himself just before the boy pulled the trigger, Sarik tossed his weapon at his attacker in mid-air, causing it to spin like a helicopter blade through the air. Sarik hit the floor, the tiny but deadly lead projectiles whizzing centimeter over his head as his body weight forced the last ounce of air from his lungs.

Simultaneously, however, the lethal end of the spinning baton made contact with the brunette's stomach. The contact was for less than a second, but that was ample time for the tip to burn through the boy's clothing and make contact with his skin. As the shock stick went skidding across the floor, Sarik's antagonizer fell to the floor, yelling in pain as he reflexively fired his pistol into the ceiling.

Gripping at his newly-acquired knife, Sarik pushed himself to his feet and continued his charge, pulling the brunette to his feet with unnatural strength and holding the blade to the taller boy's throat. The young man feebly attempted to point his pistol at Sarik, but the Extended swiftly and firmly planted his elbow into the crook of the other boy's arm, causing him to drop the weapon.

"You know that I should kill you, right?" Sarik said to the stranger, the stranger who dared to attack simply because he was a little better than everyone else. "Can you tell me why I should allow you to live?"

Sarik pressed the knife a little harder to his captive's throat, causing a minuscule drop of blood to form on its blade.

"It won't matter," the brown-haired young man choked out. "We will get you all, someday. For the preservation…of our blue and pure…world."

"Well, that's too bad," Sarik told him. Sarik prepared to slit the boy's throat, but after a few seconds, realized that he would merely be giving in to his primal instincts. Would he have wasted his talent on a boy like this a few years ago? He didn't think so.

Sarik carefully pulled the knife away from his antagonizer's throat. The other boy relaxed a little and began to move away. However, Sarik suddenly slammed him back up against the locker and lashed out with his right arm, his fingers lined up for a perfect flat-handed attack. Sarik caught the young man in the lump of his throat, and fractions of a second later, the boy was sprawled on the ground with his hands to his neck, staring up at Sarik as he produced the most disturbing of sounds.

"I'm not going to waste my time killing you today," Sarik told him as he squatted down in front of the boy's face. "They might have to revive you, but there shouldn't be _too_ much brain damage."

Sarik watched as the boy's face formed into that of wrath, and his choking increased. Apparently, he was attempting to talk.

"Well, you only have a few moments of consciousness left, so you better listen well," Sarik said as he put his knife to the top of the boy's forearm and pulled back, creating a short, perfect line that caused the brunette to grimace in pain. "You have proven yourself a threat to me, which means that you are a threat to some people that I care for a lot."

Sarik grabbed his captive's arm and placed the blade about a centimeter further up the brunette's arm from the cut, then pulled again, creating another line of blood identical in length to the first.

"I don't want to ever see your face again," Sarik told him as he gripped the boy's arm harder and placed the knife to it. "If I do, I will kill you. But not before discovering what is most important to you. And on the day that they bury your body in the ground, I will utterly and completely destroy whatever that thing is."

Sarik stared at the boy for a second longer, his face cold and unflinching. Satisfied, the Extended forced his knife down as hard as he could on the young man's arm and yanked back, drawing a line much wider and longer than the other two, blood quickly escaping from the wound.

As the boy slumped into unconsciousness, Sarik glared at the knife in disgust and tossed it away, the weapon coming to rest near its owner.

Sarik was about to leave, but he realized that he was forgetting something. Reaching into his attacker's jacket, he pulled from one of its pockets two small magazines. Locating the pistol, Sarik quickly verified that they did indeed fit it. Pocketing the weapon, Sarik began a running limp towards the school entrance. It would be best if he weren't around when this mess was discovered. He could already hear quite a number of faint, distant footsteps already coming to investigate the site.

* * *

"What the hell were you thinking?!" Derick yelled, tossing Sarik's makeshift weapon at the boy's face, hitting him lightly. "Do you understand in the least what you have done?"

"I was defending myself in a situation where I felt adequately threatened, a right that Eurasian law protects," Sarik responded emotionlessly, standing straight and staring at the wall as if a soldier at attention.

"Look me in the eye, boy!" Derick ordered as he leaned forward onto his desk, causing Sarik to do so grudgingly. "You do not go to school armed with an illegally produced weapon just for the hell of it. You were the one who instigated this."

"Yes, you're right," Sarik admitted in a serious tone, glaring at his father. "In a way, I was the one to instigate this, but I was not the one who threw the first blow."

"Yes, but you nearly killed a boy, and now his parents are suing for you to be taken into custody," his father informed. "More than you already have been."

"The reason that I no longer have handcuffs on is because the authority's medical specialists concluded that I was assaulted repeatedly with a less-lethal weapon modified to discharge beyond safe limits," Sarik reported as he rubbed his wrists. "They have ample evidence to justify my position."

"You still have no idea what kind of commotion this is causing, though!" Derick yelled as he stood and began strolling around his desk. "There is no way we can return you to that school."

"You were the one who wanted me to study at a campus," Sarik reminded Derick.

"And you were the one who chose that one!" Derick retorted, moving into his son's face, which higher than his own.

"I warned you then of what would happen," Sarik told his father. "Isn't it just ironic that it actually happened?"

"You ungrateful child!" Derick yelled, slapping Sarik across the face.

As Sarik moved with the blow, he felt his anger boil over; not the the kind filled with rage, but filled with sadness. For some reason, he wanted to cry. He wanted to cry so much. Every one of his gut feelings told him that he should take it, that he should work with this. But his rage, his intellect told him that it was wrong. He wasn't going to be a part of it any longer.

Without a word, Sarik lashed out, grabbing both of his father's forearms and swiftly spinning him about. Forcing one arm behind Derick's back, Sarik pushed the aged man against his desk and held him there.

"You will NOT hit me," Sarik said hatefully. "You may scold me, berate me, and even degrade me, but I will NOT allow you to hit me ever again. Do you understand?!"

Sarik glared at the back of his father's head for a moment longer, then released him and practically leaped the few meters to the office door.

"I want you out," the man said in a completely civil and calm manner as he stood, facing the wall opposite of Sarik. "I don't want to see your face ever again."

Though his face was cold and arrogant, a tear streaked down Sarik's face.

"So be it," Sarik complied emotionlessly, crisply spinning about and walking out of the office door.

* * *

Laura sighed as Sarik marched out of her husbands office, completely passing her over.

"Sarik," she said as the door closed. "Sarik!"

"What is it?" he asked coldly as he stopped, not so much as even glancing back.

"You know that he's just worried, right?" Sarah assured him.

"Are you trying to convince me, or yourself?" Sarik questioned.

"Please don't be like this," Laura begged.

"He no longer wishes to see me," Sarik informed her. "Right now, I am more than happy to oblige. I won't be far if he decides to change his mind."

And with that, he continued his march, descending down the nearest staircase.

Laura sighed, almost ready to cry. But right now, she had something important to do. This conflict, it had to end. And since no one else was willing to compromise, it was her duty in this family to make one.

Gaining her bearings, Laura slowly opened Derick's office door.


End file.
